Extreme Sailing Series - Competition for top spot heats up

by Oman Sail on 7 Feb 2015 At the Extreme Sailing Series the mercurial breeze on Marina Bay made it a tough day for all and The Wave, Muscat had some hot competition for the top of the leaderboard while growing confidence on Stevie Morrison’s Oman Air inspired their first race win of the season.

Morrison, who before Singapore had never competed on an Extreme 40, had to wait until the final race of a frustrating day before the victory was clinched though two podium places in earlier races hinted at their ambition.

'It was great to win a race but winning the regatta is about performing consistently not just winning one race,' said the British Olympic 49er professional.

'We are a new team and this shows we have potential. If we can beat everyone, in theory we can do it again and again but we all know it’s not as easy as that so it is all about establishing some consistency.

'This Oman Air team is coming together really well. We had a tough start with a few last places but that tests your resolve and you have to stay positive. Both days have ended really well for us which is a good sign,' Morrison said.

Among his crew of Nic Asher, Ted Hackney, Ed Powys and Ali Al Balushi are a group of Olympic hopefuls who are at home under pressure and keen to make their mark so the sudden and dramatic wind shifts doubled with wind holes detonated by massive gusts failed to unsettle them.

With a fourth place in the Aberdeen Challenge Finals, their endeavour lifted them two places to fifth place overall in the rankings.

'It has been a great day for us,' said Omani bowman Al Balushi.

'We have been fighting hard and got some good results. It was very difficult for the tacticians to decide where we should go because the wind was shifting so much but we were on it all the time. Hopefully tomorrow will be another good day and it will be exciting.'

The Wave, Muscat who were leading overnight moved to third despite a win in the second race of the day and another podium place in the last one where they were beaten by their teammates on Oman Air.

This is familiar territory for skipper Leigh McMillan who although crowned Extreme Sailing Series champion twice in 2012 and 2013, has not yet won in Singapore but with two days of racing remaining, he and his crew of Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Ed Smyth and Nasser Al Mashari will be looking to push back up to the top before Sunday.

'We didn’t really nail the starts,' said Ayton, two times British Olympic gold medallist.

'Yesterday was a more regimented routine and that worked well but today was different. Having some structure at the start works better and it cost us. Around the course, we missed a few places and normally we would convert but not today. One tiny mistake in this kind of racing and you lose places but it was nothing drastic. It was just one of those days.'

Skipper, Leigh McMillan, had nothing but compliments for the opposition, many have The Wave, Muscat pegged as favourites for the season, but the British skipper has always had a conservative view on that: 'The competition is strong this year with a lot of new people on the circuit,' he said.

'The other teams are doing really well and a lot of them, like Red Bull and SAP are pushing very hard, particularly Red Bull with their new boy Jason Waterhourse at the helm, they are doing a very good job. This will be a real test for us.'