Extreme Sailing Series - Rio showdown on the horizon

by Extreme Sailing Series on 25 Nov 2012 In just over a week’s time, the Extreme 40s will be heading into the final battle of the 2012 Extreme Sailing Series in the spectacular city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – the same city that will not only be hosting the FIFA World Cup Final in 2014 but the 2016 Olympic Games, making it the destination of choice for sporting fans around the world.

The stakes are high with four teams capable of lifting the 2012 Extreme Sailing Series overall trophy – two Omani, one French and one Austrian. None of them want to go home empty handed and with 15 points up for grabs in the final Act, the podium is wide open.

One team will head to the final feeling a little more comfortable than the others safe in the knowledge that they have guaranteed themselves a podium position regardless of the final outcome. Leigh McMillan’s The Wave, Muscat has been sitting pretty at the top of the leaderboard since winning Act 2 in Qingdao. However, their leading position is far from guaranteed with three other teams champing at the bit to stop The Wave, Muscat in their tracks.

Act wins in Muscat and Cardiff for Morgan Larson’s Oman Air sees them in second place on 53 points, in what has been an impressive debut year on the Extreme Sailing Series for the American skipper. 'It feels like my sailing shoes have just dried from the wild sailing in Nice a few weeks ago and now Rio is just around the corner! On Oman Air we are 100% focused on continuing our growth as a team and in the boat. It would take a miracle to win the season so our goal is to perform at our best every race in Rio and see how things unfold from there.'

Pierre Pennec put his French team Groupe Edmond de Rothschild back in the fray at the penultimate Act in Nice with a win on home soil, leaving them just two points shy of Larson on 51 while the Austrian Red Bull Sailing Team enter the Act in fourth on 48.5 points. And with 179 races down this year and up to 32 more to come in Rio de Janeiro, Roman Hagara is all too aware of what is at stake. 'We are not going to be looking at the other teams and will focus on our own performance. We have analysed our disappointing result from Nice (the team finished in sixth place) and have to fight back in Rio now.'

While these four teams will fight for overall victory, another battle has developed mid-fleet. Andrew Walsh is back at the helm of GAC Pindar with a five point lead over 2012 Series newbies SAP Extreme Sailing Team and both teams are gunning for their first podium positions. 'We have been close to a podium finish at the previous Acts of the Extreme Sailing Series, and we hope that a more consistent performance will take us the last step onto the podium in Rio de Janeiro,' explained SAP Extreme Sailing Team’s co-skipper Rasmus Kostner.

The action begins on the 6th December in open water in front of Copacabana beach before moving into stadium mode for the final three days where the world famous statue of Christ the Redeemer – one of the New Seven Wonders of the world –will be watching over the Extreme 40s. Watch all the stadium racing live on the official event website from the 1500 (GMT-2) on the seventh-9th Extreme Sailing Series website