Thanks to Suzanne and Alan for this update from the Extreme 40s racing series. Ed
Eleven Extreme 40 catamarans headed onto the Muscat, Oman racecourse for the opening day of Act 2 of the global Extreme Sailing Series for what proved to be an unpredictable and close fought event, with five different winners over seven races on day one alone.
SAP Extreme Sailing from Denmark had the edge over the less consistent teams on day one and with only 16 points separating the top eight teams there was some tough competition on the day and the days to follow.
British helms mastered the racecourse
After a somewhat conservative start to the event for both Ben Ainslie’s British team J.P. Morgan BAR, and Gazprom Team Russia, helmed by twice Series winner Paul Campbell-James, the British helms began to master the racecourse, both securing finishes in the top three, whilst Island sailor Leigh McMillan and his team on The Wave, Muscat, finished fourth in front of the Oman crowd.
Placing after day one:
1st SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 48 points
2nd Alinghi (SUI) 45 points
3rd Groupama sailing team (FRA) 45 points
4th The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 44 points
Day two action
Day two and after the open water sailing of day one and a change to stadium sailing, it may not have been high-speed racing on the second day in Muscat, but it was as close as it gets, with the leaderboard reshuffling after every race.
All of the fleet used all of their tactical prowess to manoeuvre their Extreme 40s around the course, and after a short one lap shoot-out for the final race, the Swiss team Alinghi took the lead.
Leigh and his team, the defending champions of both the overall Series and of the Muscat Act last year, on The Wave, Muscat had their pre-start routine near-perfected from the first of the six races. Starting the day with a win and rarely finishing out of the top three, the team sailed a smarter course and less distance than the rest of the fleet according to race statistics, and moved up the leaderboard to second place, three points behind their 2013 rivals Alinghi.
Placing after day two:
1st Alinghi (SUI) 88 points
2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 85 points
3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZ) 82 points
Day three action
With punishing light winds and beating Arabian sun, day three saw another reshuffle of the teams and a shift on the leaderboard. Leaders Alinghi managed to hold onto pole position and withstand the onslaught of pressure from the rest of the pack, but it was close at the top, with just 14 points between the top five boats.
SAP Extreme Sailing Team did well to put themselves back in the game, but the team of the day was Ben Ainslie’s J.P. Morgan BAR, with three race wins.
Light winds punished some of the teams hard, including The Wave, Muscat but they did enough to keep themselves in the game, but were now down in fifth place.
Placing after day three:
1st Alinghi (SUI) 132 points
2nd SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 128 points
3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL)127 points
4th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) Ben 122 points
5th The Wave, Muscat (OMA)118 points
Day four action
With a sweltering hot day and winds that blasted across the course at a steady 20 knots with gusts of 26 day four was a tough one for all the teams. Four teams were looking for the top spot and there was no room for error.
Defending champions and home team on The Wave, Muscat made a real statement of intent from the gun, with an aggressive start that saw them lead the fleet off the line. Leigh’s team of Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler and Nasser Al Mashari didn’t look back, snatching the win from the hands of the Kiwi, Swiss and Danish teams, to claim not only the Act win, but putting them top of the overall Series leaderboard after two Acts.
An elated Leigh commented after racing,
“It was too close for comfort, that’s for sure. Today we had a fight on our hands, we knew we had to be exceptional and raise our game. I was just enjoying the sailing, the challenge of it, the situations that were tight and it all worked out for us. The wind came in and it was absolutely amazing sailing out there, absolutely perfect for the Extreme 40s.”
Result after day four of Act Two:
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler, Nasser Al Mashari 188 points
2nd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) Dean Barker, Glenn Ashby, James Dagg, Jeremy Lomas, Edwin Delaat 180 points
3rd Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Anna Tunnicliffe, Pierre-Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 179 pointsSeries Points:
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 19 points
2nd Alinghi (SUI) 18 points
3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 16 points
4th Realteam by Realstone (SUI) 13 points
5th Groupama sailing team (FRA) 9 points
6th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 9 points
7th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) 9 points
8th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 8 points
9th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) 6 points
10th Oman Air (OMA) 3 points
11th GAC Pindar (AUS) 2 points
