Extreme Sailing Series - The Wave on track for first win in Singapore

by Oman Sail on 6 Feb 2015 On the opening day of the Extreme Sailing Series Leigh McMillan’s hopes of turning the tables to post his first ever win in Singapore are on track after The Wave, Muscat finished at the top of the leaderboard while the new crew on Oman Air wasted little time in offering glimpses of their potential.

The conditions on the stadium race track in Marina Bay threw up a series of tricky challenges with a wind range of between two and 18 knots affecting the opening races and massive shifts complicating things further.

But eight races were completed and according to Omani bowman Nasser Al Mashari, the team on The Wave, Muscat quickly got into their groove to finish the first day with five podium places including three outright wins to put the spectre of their defeats in Singapore in 2013 and 2014 firmly to rest.

'We had a good first day - better than our first day last year!' said Al Mashari.

'We are feeling strong and will hopefully continue in the same vein tomorrow and over the weekend to finish well for The Wave, Muscat and Oman.'

'We have spent so much time together and know each other very well which means we communicate very well as a group. We know our jobs well and sail as one hand. This unity will be key to winning the series.'

McMillan was also very happy with his team’s performances and results on the first day of the Extreme Sailing Series 2015 season and leads the fleet with a four point advantage.

'It was great to be back out on the water and thrashing it out with all the new teams this year.

'The conditions were certainly challenging, at the extremes of what we have seen here in Singapore before - particularly in terms of the gust range, so it was pretty full on. We started off a bit slow, but came back strong at the end so it was a solid day for us.'

In 2015, The Wave, Muscat is making its sixth bid for the Extreme title with two championships in 2012 and 2013 already under its belt but for Stevie Morrison’s crew on Oman Air, the circuit is brand new and the challenge formidable.

However, in Ed Powys, Ted Hackney, Nic Asher and Ali Al Balushi, Morrison said he has a crew who know their way round a race course and are prepared to battle to the end.

'It was a little bit crazy out there,' he said.

'Looking at the place and how fast these boats are, we knew it would be but it was a challenge staying calm when everything around you is going crazy.

'We had a few bad starts, but we came back strong which is a reflection of the personalities we have in this team and that is great to see. We are just enjoying it at the moment - its great fun.'

Morrison’s first day in an Extreme 40 gave a glimpse of what Oman Air might achieve in 2015 after they posted two podium places, coming second to Beko Team Turx in Race 4 and to sister ship The Wave, Muscat in the next race.

Racing continues in Singapore tomorrow with live coverage in the form of twitter updates and 3D graphics - Insights from SAP, scheduled to start at 1430 local time (GMT +8) and live Video kicking off at 1600 local time (GMT +8) all at