Extreme Sailing Series - Final day showdown for Oman Sail

by Oman Sail on 8 Feb 2015 In the 2015 Extreme Sailing Series Oman Sail’s crews on Oman Air and The Wave, Muscat protected their leaderboard positions in Singapore though learned some hard lessons in patience and perseverance as unpredictable winds continued to play havoc with performance.

With one day’s racing remaining, two-time Extreme Sailing Series champion Leigh McMillan is lying in third place on The Wave, Muscat, just 15 points behind leaders Red Bull following a day of mixed results where two resounding wins and a second were balanced out by a clutch of meeker finishes.

It leaves the Omani boat with plenty to do if they are to break their Singapore duck and add it to their collection of venue victories by tomorrow night but their appetite for success remains sharper than ever.

'It is tight at the top so we need to reset and get back on the front foot but there is still time to win this event,' said The Wave, Muscat’s Pete Greenhalgh.

'Patience and perseverance are key in this type of racing, especially in Singapore because the conditions make winning formulas almost impossible to crack.

'But the main thing is to enjoy it…you win some, you lose some and it’s important to remember that. There's still time to win this one and we are right at the start of a very long season.'

Nasser Al Mashari, The Wave, Muscat’s powerhouse bowman shared Greenhalgh’s positive frame of mind, adding there would be no let-up in effort or resolve on the last day.

'It is hard racing here but we are not far from the lead so we are looking forward to the final tomorrow,' he said.

'We will be doing our best so hopefully the luck will be with us.'

The random winds, which produced six different winners in nine races, also tested the patience of Stevie Morrison’s new crew on Oman Air, though a second place in the final race bolstered confidence ahead of the last day.

'We have learned today that it can be tough and even if you sail well you don’t always get the rub of the green. Our boat handling was better and it felt like we were pushing harder but if you don’t get on the right side of the wind shifts you can lose a lot of places. Patience and perseverance are a must because it is a fickle breeze and it’s hard.'

All day the Extreme Sailing Series fleet enjoyed raptured attention from crowds gathered around Marina Bay which helped to spur on the sailors Morrison said, and hopefully inspire local children who may have been getting their first glimpse of sailing.

'This series is all about getting sailing in front of the public and back home in Oman we want to get people interested so they get out on the water and participate,' he said.

'That is what Oman Sail is all about and that is important to me. I have two kids and I like the fact they go out on boats and play around – if this inspires people to go sailing then that’s fantastic.'

Before the serious business of Extreme 40 racing got underway, Oman Air’s Ed Powys, 2016 49er Olympic hopeful and The Wave, Muscat’s Pete Greenhalgh were called to action in ‘Drumming for Charity’, a 'pink day' of Dragon Racing to raise awareness of breast cancer.

Each sailor joined teams of women survivors of breast cancer to call the rhythm as they rowed a course around Marina Bay, all wearing pink wigs.

'I was the drummer on one of the boats and also gave some input and encouragement on horsepower required on the paddles,' joked Greenhalgh, regarded as one of the ‘beefiest’ and strongest members of the Oman Sail crews.

'Fortunately we had a good crew and managed to finish the race a boat length ahead of everyone else which was nice.'

Prior to racing, another Oman Sail crewmember Sarah Ayton offered an engaging account of her Olympic career and current role to two local groups from SportCares Foundation, which works to improve the lives of underprivileged children, youth-at-risk, seniors and people with physical and/or intellectual disabilities and Carehut, a CSR programme under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.

Passionate about spreading the sailing message and keen to share her own experiences, she was back in action after racing for her first ‘Chat with Champions’ evening of the season, captivating children from the Singapore Sailing Federation with her tales of Olympic gold medals and derring-do.