Extreme Sailing Series - Demanding Act 4 finale

by J.P. Morgan BAR on 30 Jun 2014 On the Extreme Sailing Series finale of Act 4, six races were completed in front of the spectacular Russian backdrop, taking it to 22 in total over the four days. Each race was equally demanding, offering a different set of conditions and today was no exception with tricky, unstable and shifty racing for the 12 Extreme 40 teams.

A full range of winds, from extremely light to a full on breeze, created its own set of unique challenges, even for the most experienced Extreme 40 teams. Fighting it out until the bitter end, J.P. Morgan BAR finished the event fourth overall, with 120 points, to place their highest position of the global series so far.

Trimmer, Nick Hutton, summarised the day’s racing, 'Today was around 8 – 10 knots, gusting 15, with a split wind across the Neva. We won a race, our third of the event, but unfortunately in the final race, which was also a double points race, we pushed a bit too hard on the start line and were OCS, which held us back from the fleet. But, it’s not been a bad finish to the event and we are moving forward as a team, our performance is good – we have been doing more overtaking, feel like our boat speed is picking up pace and can see it coming together more now.'

J.P. Morgan BAR Skipper, Ben Ainslie, continued, 'It’s a better result for us than any of our previous events, and we’re improving which is great. With all of these events there have been pretty challenging conditions, so for all of the teams it’s about dealing with that and I think we’re slowly starting to understand a bit more about this type of racing, the demands and how to be successful.'

The fourth Act, which marks the half way point in the international circuit, moves the British team up to sixth place overall on the scoreboard, with 17 points, setting them up in a good position ahead of their home racing debut at Act 5, Cardiff, in August.

Sailing Team Manager and three times America’s Cup winner, Jono Macbeth, is positive about the team’s performance on the first half of the circuit, 'We’ve reached the half way point of the series now and we are absolutely making a lot of positive gains. We have a solid team, who are really gelling and making good progress. This week we have taken our best result to date and it leaves us looking forward to the second half where we have four more interesting and challenging venues, so it looks set to be even more exciting.'

Jono concluded. 'It feels like the competition at the top end of the leaderboard is starting to close in and a few of the teams who haven’t raced on the series are starting to get a better feel for the boat so, the competition is going to get a lot tighter. Cardiff will be a great next event for the team, it’s a strong venue for racing and we are looking forward to being there.'

The Extreme Sailing Series continues with the UK leg, Act 5, Cardiff, from 22nd August to 25th August.

Alongside their partnership with J.P. Morgan, BAR are supported in their Extreme Sailing quest by sustainability partner, 11th Hour Racing, their technical clothing supplier, Henri Lloyd, Scorpion Ribs, who supply the team chase and hospitality boats for the series and SOS Rehydrate (Medical drinks).

Extreme Sailng Series™ Act 4, Saint Petersburg presented by Land Rover standings after Day 4, 22 races (29.06.14)
1st Alinghi (SUI) 160 points.
?2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 148 points.
3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL)146 points.
4th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) 120 points.
5th Realteam by Realstone (SUI) 117 points.
6th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 113 points.
7th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) 97 points.
8th Oman Air (OMA 96 points.
9th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 95 points.
10th GAC Pindar (AUS) 88 points.
11th Groupama sailing team (FRA) 88 points.
12th RussianFirst (RUS) 40 points.

Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 overall standings. Position / Team / Points
1st Alinghi (SUI) 38 points.
2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 35 points.
3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 32 points.
4th Realteam by Realstone (SUI) 28 points.
?5th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) 19 points.
6th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) 17 points.
7th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 14 points.
8th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 13 points.
9th Groupama sailing team (FRA) 13 points.
10th Oman Air (OMA) 11 points.
11th GAC Pindar (AUS) 4 points.