Thanks to Suzanne and Alan for this update from the Extreme 40s Series. Ed
Six different winners were produced on the first day of racing after eight races.
‘Realstone’, the Swiss flagged team, were in form and finished the opening day of the global tour top of the leaderboard. Some of the newer teams of the 12 taking part struggled to get to grips with the stadium racecourse, posting a mixed bag of results and a crash between defending champions ‘The Wave, Muscat’ and ‘GAC Pindar’ left the Australian team with a night of repairs.
For the eight races- the first of up to 250 this year – there was a continually shifting breeze, which ranged from 4-10 knots with slightly bigger gusts. In the sixth race of the day, ‘The Wave, Muscat’ and ‘GAC Pindar’ found out just how tight the course was, when the Omani boat turned into the back of the Australians in a port-starboard incident, leaving a significant hole in their boat.
We’ll come back stronger
Leigh McMillan explained:
“GAC Pindar put in a tack, and at the last minute they looked like they weren’t going to avoid us. I tried to smash it into a tack but there wasn’t anywhere to go – plus I lost grip of the tiller and tripped over, and unfortunately went into them. We’ve had plenty of bad days and we will have to go back, look at the videos and take some lessons out of today and come back stronger tomorrow.”
After day 1 positions were: 1st Realstone (SUI), 2nd Alinghi (SUI) and 3rd Groupama sailing team (FRA).Leigh and ‘The Wave, Muscat’ (OMA) were 9th, an unusual position for Leigh and his team.
Day Two
On the second day of racing, with the wind and heat from the city, the 12 teams battled a huge wind which ranged from three knots right through to gusts that peaked at 24 knots, Six races were sailed on Marina Bay and ‘Alinghi’ stamped their dominance, with two race wins, and three second places to upgrade their overall position to first place.
‘Realstone’ had a superb opening day and were on form again before a collision with ‘Oman Air’ which put an end to the Swiss team’s winning run. The biggest upgrade of the day came for the defending champions ‘The Wave, Muscat’ with three race wins they jumped to third place.
With two days left, Leigh’s attentions turned to the end result saying,
“It was a pretty solid day and I’ll be pushing harder the next two days. We’re now in competition for the podium and that’s the most important thing for the first event.”
Day Three
Day three saw one of the most dramatic moments in the eight-year history of Extreme 40 Sailing. In winds that were varying from 5 to 23 knots across the racecourse, ‘Team Aberdeen Singapore ‘caught one of the biggest gusts of the day as they came into the finish line and ploughed into the back of France’s ‘Groupama’ sailing team. Over-night ‘Groupama’ was given a new mast.
Six races were sailed that saw Leigh McMillan’s team ‘The Wave, Muscat’ up their game, winning 50% of the day’s races, moving to 2nd position and locking their sights on current event leaders, ‘Alinghi’. “Everything is going so fast, as you can see from the shore with the few clashes out there, and it’s all about improving communication,” commented Leigh.
More exciting and power packed racing on day four with Leigh fighting hard to hold second slot on the podium which he did in the end.
Will he do better in three weeks time on home ground in Oman?
Overall result for Act 1:
1st Alinghi (SUI) 217 points.
2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 193 points.
3rd Realstone (SUI) 178 points.
4th Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL)168 points.
5th Groupama sailing team (FRA)160 points.
6th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT)156 points.
7th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR)152 points.
8th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS)128 points.
9th Oman Air (OMA)128 points.
10th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 126 points.
11th Team Aberdeen Singapore (SIN) 82 points.
12th GAC Pindar (AUS) 59 points.
Image: © Extreme 40s
