Many thanks to Suzanne and Alan for this fantastic news about Isle of Wight sailor, Leigh McMillan. Ed
Cardiff was the venue, over the Bank Holiday Weekend for the UK Act of the Extreme 40s Sailing Series with the event having support from Land Rover which supported a local Team Wales boat.
‘Team Wales Land Rover’ was led by Cardiff-born Dave Evans a British Sailing Team member, who is campaigning for the Rio 2016 Olympics in the highly competitive 49er class. Joining Dave was fellow British Sailing Team member Chris Grube who recently announced his own Rio 2016 campaign alongside London 2012 silver medallist Stuart Bithell.
Moved from Cowes to Cardiff
As supporters of Extreme 40 sailing will remember the venue for the UK round was always Cowes until recently when Cardiff agreed to host the event as part of the Cardiff Harbour Festival.
During this year’s AAM Cowes Week a number of Island residents and visitors remarked how they missed the Extreme Sailing which over the years had various venues in Cowes/East Cowes but will be remembered most for the exciting sailing off Egypt Point when thousands lined the shoreline.
Points tie
After a down-to-the-wire battle between close rivals Alinghi and The Wave, Muscat sailed by Isle of Wight sailor Leigh McMillan and his crew at Act 5 in Porto just three weeks ago, the teams were now tied on points at the top of the overall Series leaderboard.
While the Omani team had chosen to keep the same crew, Alinghi welcomed Olympic gold medallist and two-time ISAF World Sailor of the Year Anna Tunnicliffe.
Change of team for GAC Pindar
Another boat with a change of team members was GAC Pindar with London 2012 Olympic silver medallists Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark and four-times World Match Racing Champion Ian Williams amongst the crew.
Light winds on day one
Day one and very light winds meant that only three races could be sailed, a disappointment for the eight teams taking part. All teams had to utilise every inch of their tactical prowess to pull off the moves needed to guide their Extreme 40 catamarans around the tight course.
However at the end of the day positions were: 1st Realteam (SUI) 27 points, 2nd Alinghi (SUI) 23 points and 3rd The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 21 points.
Change of weather for day two
Day two and a change in the weather, with the wind gusting between14 knots -18 knots, meant that an epic ten races took place. Day one leaders Realteam dropped to fifth place but Swiss team Alinghi asserted their authority and moved to the top of the day two leaderboard.
Team SAP (DEN) jumped into second place and The Wave Muscat took third. Not used to standing on the left hand side of the podium, it was a tough day for The Wave, Muscat by their high standards. Despite a solid three race wins, their experienced skipper and British Olympian Leigh McMillan was quite obviously disappointed after racing he said,
“It’s been a frustrating day for us, there’s been a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes and that’s cost us, but it also reflects how strong the fleet is. We had a lot of opportunity to not haemorrhage some points, but we gave a lot of points away in certain situations, which is unusual for us. It’s a bit frustrating but everyone’s pushing hard, Red Bull and SAP have really stepped it up today and have done a great job, and that’s put the pressure on us a little bit!”
Day three and the public descended on Cardiff Bay in their thousands to watch the Extreme 40 teams in action. Leigh pulled out all the stops and by the end of the day The Wave, Muscat had gone into second place behind 2013 series rivals Alinghi. SAP dropped to third position.
Little wind on final day
Final day and the weather played a vital part. Thousands of spectators enjoyed the sun but there was little wind. Final race of the day had to be postponed and at one time it was thought that the result of race six would stand as the last race of the day.
Then it was lucky race seven for Leigh. Alinghi choose the far right of the start line, SAP the left and The Wave Muscat the middle – the three top dogs choosing different race tracks.
With the wind dropping all the time it was a very happy Leigh and his team who crossed the line to take this double points race and to win the UK Act. Presentation of awards took place at the Norwegian Church on Cardiff waterfront.
Final results
Final result after 28 races:
- The Wave, Muscat – 239
- Alinghi – 225
- SAP Extreme Sailing Series – 223
- Red Bull Sailing Team – 212
- Realteam – 180
- ChinaSpirit – 162
- GAC Pindar – 135
- Team Wales Land Rover – 125
Image: © Extreme 40 Sailing Series
