Extreme Sailing Series – Fog lifts for day 2
by Oman Sail on 2 May 2015
Act3, Qingdao, China - Extreme Sailing Series Lloyd Images
Extreme Sailing Series – The fog lifted just enough in Fushan Bay in Qingdao, China, to get some racing in on day two and cleared the way for Oman Air and The Wave, Muscat to climb the leaderboard.
The Wave, Muscat’s trademark consistency was slow to surface but mid-way through the nine races, the two-time Extreme champions, who won in Qingdao in 2012 and 2013, hit their straps to close the day with three outright wins under their belt and a second place to improve on over the remaining two days.
Drizzly and cold conditions meant plenty of warm layers for the crews but skipper Leigh McMillan identified the starts as the key challenge today for him and his team of Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Ed Smyth and Nasser Al Mashari.
“So much of this is down to the starts and we were slow to nail them today,” he explained.
“But otherwise, we were fairly solid around the course. We had two OCS (on course side) which cost us a lot of points and that was the difference between us and SAP who are at the top of the leaderboard with an eight-point advantage.
“We had a good end to the day though, with a second and two wins in the last three races so it was nice to finish on a bit of a high. There is still plenty to do.”
Stevie Morrison and his crew on Oman Air, racing in only their third event, also made a tentative start but by race nine enjoyed an intense battle with The Wave, Muscat for the lead and although they came second on this occasion, the tussle gave a flavour of things to come between Oman Sail’s highly competitive crews.
By the end of the day Oman Air had climbed to fifth place and the crew of Nic Asher, Ted Hackney, Ed Powys, and Oman’s Ali Al Balushi were confident of improving on their rankings over the coming days.
“We also had a slow start which wasn’t what we had planned but we learned a lot and got better as we went along,” said Stevie.
“The last four races were really good, although we had a penalty in the last race after a close situation with The Wave, Muscat and that was a shame since it cost us a few points but there is a long way to go until the end of the regatta.”
The first scheduled day’s racing on Thursday had to be abandoned due to fog – only the fourth time in the nine year history of the Extreme Sailing Series that officials have been forced to cancel a full day.
But with two days remaining, over the national holiday weekend in China, the Qingdao crown remains up for grabs and some fierce competition in store. Follow the action live here with live video streaming, commentary and graphics from 1530-1700 Local Time (GMT+8).
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