Thanks to Suzanne and Alan for this latest sailing update. Ed
Following exciting racing in China at the beginning of May, the Extreme 40 Sailing Series headed to Cardiff for the UK round over the weekend. The Land Rover Extreme Sailing Series Act 3, Qingdao, China came to a nail-biting conclusion with SAP Extreme Sailing Team taking their first ever Act win.
After two days racing in dense fog, Danish co-skippers Jes Gram-Hansen and Rasmus Køstner were dominating the Act, and had a 23-point lead going into the final day. However, Qingdao was not going to let the Danes run away with the lead that easily.
Change in conditions
For the grand final, blue skies and a complete 180-degree wind shift greeted the teams. This change in conditions looked to have set the leaders off their pace, but the Danes were able to capitalise on their outstanding performance over the three days of racing – that included 14 podiums, five race wins and kept the chasing pack at bay.
In the chasing pack the battle was on for the remaining podium positions, between The Wave, Muscat skippered by Isle of Wight sailor Leigh McMillan and Gazprom Team Russia.
A win in the final double points race however put Leigh McMillan’s The Wave, Muscat in second overall, with Red Bull Sailing Team significantly finishing in fourth, seeing a shake up on the Series rankings. Series Positions after this Act were as follows: SAP Extreme Sailing Team 28 points, The Wave, Muscat second on 27 and Red Bull Sailing Team third, with 25.
New generation of foiling catamarans
Prior to the racing for Act 4 in Cardiff, a panel of the world’s top international sailors and sailing experts gathered to discuss a new generation of foiling catamarans to be used as part of the event in the future.
OC Sport Executive Chairman Mark Turner, who pioneered the Series and the now often coined phrase ‘Stadium Racing’ when it was launched as the iShares Cup in 2007, explained,
“We have always spoken about an evolution of the boat when the time was right, and now with our ten year anniversary looming in 2016 its time to move.
“We were the first to bring multihulls to professional sailing in the way the Extreme Sailing Series does, and we need to keep moving with new developments in our sport to maintain our position at the top. We have a whole package of changes to be announced in the coming months to the event format – for now we can simply announce that we have started the development of a new class of foiling boat, with the option for sailing in non-foiling mode where the smallest of Stadiums requires it.
“The core of the Extreme Sailing Series has always and will continue to be Stadium Racing, captivating spectators racing just metres from the shore. Making use of our open water days to foil, or a combination of venues over the whole year that allow for foiling and Stadium Racing are all being considered.”
Act 4
On to the racing, ten exhausting and fast-paced, short, sharp, sprint races were the order of the day on the first of four days at Act 4 which was presented by Land Rover.
The eight international Extreme 40 teams were put to the test on a typically tricky Cardiff course, contending with 40-degree shifts and gusts from 10 to 23 knots.
Collision for Leigh’s crew
Winning the day with an 11-point lead, The Wave, Muscat with skipper, Islander Leigh McMillan, didn’t exactly have it all their own way. A collision in the third race at the windward mark with SAP Extreme Sailing Team resulted in serious damage to their tiller bar. Despite the terrific crunch of cracking carbon, fortunately none of the crew was hurt, but with the damage irreparable on the water, the team limped back to the pit lane for repairs.
Five races later, The Wave, Muscat took it in their stride and came back fighting, with two wins and a third in the final three races of the day – the defending Cardiff champions were top of the overnight leaderboard on 90 points with Oman Air in 2nd place on 79 points and 3rd SAP Extreme Sailing Team on 77 points.
Back on dry land after a rollercoaster day, British Olympian Leigh McMillan explained:
“We had a manic repair trying to get our broken tiller fixed, it was quite technical and difficult trying to get the rudders back on in a fashion where they are actually going to steer the boat. We really needed to nail it because the average points were going to make a massive difference to the overall scores and if we had a few bad races it really could have ruined our day. It was quite tricky to get into the rhythm, but we managed to come out on top… just.”
Day two action
For day two Cardiff turned on breeze, blue skies and beautiful conditions for racing treating the spectators lining the Welsh shore to Stadium Racing at its best with the eight teams completing seven tough races.
Rising to the top with four race wins and two podiums finishes, The Wave, Muscat were unstoppable and dominated the day, allowing Leigh McMillan and his experienced crew to significantly extend their lead at the top of the overnight leaderboard to 153 points.
Leigh explained,
“It has been pretty relentless over the last two days and I think we have the same to come with these strong reaching conditions from the West.
“For us it was important to keep focused, which was quite a challenge race after race, but it was a great effort from the whole team making sure we kept pushing forward and trying to get those race wins and pushing as hard as we can the whole way through.”
Current overall 2015 Extreme Sailing Series leaders SAP Extreme Sailing Team had an inconsistent day, at times just on the edge of control in the testing conditions. Despite that, the team managed to add 55 points to their score line by the end of the day, enough to gain a place in the overall ranking but still 21 points adrift of first place.
On to day three
Day three and another relentless day seeing the Extreme 40 fleet complete eight fast paced races on a course that varied from 10-23knots over the short 550m track. With no runaway leader of the day, there was a real mixed bag of results for the teams, as they struggled with the gusty conditions, starting penalties and gear failure.
In a change from day two’s winning form, current Act leaders The Wave, Muscat had an unusually low scoring day. Their string of race wins, on the previous day, was replaced with a string of fourth place finishes adding 57 points to their total. Having won in Cardiff for the past two years, McMillan and his experienced crew, including Double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Ayton, went into the final day with a 15-point cushion.
For the fourth exhausting day of racing, Leigh McMillan and the team on The Wave, Muscat, stormed to an impressive win, putting the Omani team back in the lead at the half way stage of the eight-Act 2015 Series.
Five podium finishes on the final day
Topping the leaderboard after 32 gruelling races The Wave, Muscat, took control in the wild conditions, posting five podium finishes on the final day and more podiums over the event than any other team. With an eye always on the 2015 Series leaderboard, the final double points race of the day became a tactical game from start to finish, the team using their experience to sail SAP Extreme Sailing Team down the pack.
Leigh explained,
“It’s a tough situation when you have one eye on the regatta itself and one eye on the Series. SAP Extreme Sailing Team went into this event in the lead in the Series rankings, so we had an opportunity where we could squeeze them back behind Red Bull Sailing Team in the last race, so that’s what we did. It never feels good doing that but that’s what you have to do to take advantage of the situation when you can.”
After this important win Leigh will be back on the Island next weekend to be part of the Oman Sail entry in this year’s JPMAM Round the Island Race.
This bold move from the experienced crew on The Wave, Muscat not only cost SAP Extreme Sailing Team second place in Cardiff, but it also stripped them of their lead in the overall Series standings.
Result in Cardiff:
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari 268 points.
2nd Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Hans Peter Steinacher, Jason Waterhouse, Jeremy Bachelin, Shaun Mason, Stewart Dodson 250 points.
3rd SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Mads Emil Stephensen, Brad Farrand 245 points.
Series Leaderboard:
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 37 points.
2nd SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 36 points.
3rd Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 34 points.
4th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) 24 points.
5th Oman Air (OMA) 23 points.
6th GAC Pindar (AUS) 21 points.
7th Team Turx (TUR) 19 points.
8th Lino Songeo Team Italia (ITA) 14 points.
Image: © Lloyd Images
