Roman Hagara’s Red Bull Sailing Team led after the first day after reaching a maximum speed of 28mph (25 knots) but for the local entry Team Wales, with Team GB 470 Olympic silver medallist Hannah Mills calling tactics, it ended in drama when the 62ft mast was damaged in the final race.
Ex-England Cricket Captain Michael Vaughan sailed on board GAC Pindar and a Host of Team GB stars experienced Extreme 40 racing at this event based in Cardiff Bay.
As always the start was key and The Wave Muscat’s skipper, Islander Leigh McMillan and his team had false starts but the team may have been down but they were certainly not out as they were determined to make Act Five their fourth straight win. However at the end of day one they were in fifth position.
Cardiff Bay delivered another big breeze for day two of racing for the nine strong Extreme 40 fleet.
There was a near capsize for Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and after the day’s racing there were six winners from the eight races.
Overall Series leaders The Wave, Muscat were back in contention now lying third in the rankings at the halfway point of Act 5 “Maybe we were a little conservative at times but generally we were safe, in control and trying to sail cleanly, so we can’t complain and we’re moving up the leaderboard as we always do after a bad day,” said skipper Leigh McMillan after Day Two. “We’ve got two more days of getting back into Red Bull’s points, we took a little bit out of them today and we will continue to do that.” The Wave, Muscat moved up to third.
On Saturday crowds crammed into Cardiff Bay to experience the Extreme 40 ‘stadium-style’ racing and there was some thrilling racing to watch.
With some excellent sailing Leigh McMillan and his team overhauled Roman Hagara and his team on Red Bull Sailing in front of those big crowds and The Wave, Muscat went to the top of the leaderboard going into the final day. Would they get a fourth straight win with one day to go?
Sunday- and Leigh McMillan helming The Wave, Muscat was in the hunt for his fourth straight win, to match the Alinghi record set in 2008. Things were generally going his way until the fourth race when a penalty at the start of the race for infringing the leeward boats put McMillan at the back of the nine-boat fleet. In a single moment, the door opened for their stable-mates Oman Air, skippered by US sailor Morgan Larson, and Austria’s Red Bull Sailing Team to get back in the frame. Two races later Oman Air went into the lead by just 2 points leaving McMillan and Hagara on equal points. Going into the final double-points race, all eyes were on the two Omani teams.
However it was the Danish team SAP Extreme Sailing who enjoyed the glory of winning the final race, but the Oman Air crew had done enough. Finishing in second place cemented their spot at the top of the podium for the second time this season after winning the inaugural Act in Muscat, Oman, and denying The Wave, Muscat their fourth straight win.
Winning in Cardiff means that Oman Air also move up into second place on the Overall 2012 leaderboard behind The Wave, Muscat. “It was really hard today, but I think we made it hard for ourselves,” said McMillan. “We weren’t executing the starts and the wind was a lot lighter today, so the holes were more aggressive than usual and we struggled to adapt to the situation. We can’t beat ourselves up too much, second is still good for the Overall scores.”
First 3 Positions in Cardiff were: Oman Air- 199 points, The Wave, Muscat- 188 points and Red Bull Sailing Team- 181 points. Guest Team ‘Team Wales’ were ninth with 104 points.
However Leigh and his team on The Wave are still at the top of the series leaderboard with 48 points compared to Oman Air with 41 points.
OC Sport, the organisers of the award-winning Extreme Sailing Series, has been forced to cancel Act 6 of the eight-Act global tour to be staged in Trapani, Sicily in 10 days time. The Province of Trapani and the regional government of Sicily have failed to execute their financial and operational obligations, necessary to host the event, despite OC Sport’s significant efforts over the last few months and weeks.
“We are, of course, extremely disappointed to be in this position with only 10 days left before the Extreme Sailing Series was supposed to start in Trapani,” said Mark Turner, Executive Chairman, OC Sport.
It is the first time in the six-year history of the Extreme Sailing Series that an event has had to be cancelled. The points allocated to the event for the overall Extreme Sailing Series championship will be split between the remaining two events of the global tour – Nice (October) and Brazil (December).
