Extreme Sailing Series – Oman Sail teams round off a glorious weekend

by Oman Sail on 5 Oct 2015 Extreme Sailing Series – The Wave, Muscat notched up their fourth consecutive victory at the 2015 Extreme Sailing Series in Istanbul to take them a step closer to the overall title but were denied an historic win margin by Oman Air, their Oman Sail teammates, who pulled off their best result of the year in finishing second.

In fact Stevie Morrison’s Oman Air crew were on a roll for the fourth day of racing on the Bosphorus Strait, finishing on the podium in five of the eight races to bring their total for the 31 race event to 18.

But they saved their best for last with a remarkable double points win in the final race following a close and tense battle to the line with Leigh McMillan’s The Wave, Muscat.

Victory handed them a second place overall and also narrowed the gap between them and their Omani rivals to 34 points, which was one short of the Extreme Sailing Series record in recent times, though McMillan was overjoyed to have achieved the ‘quadruple’ for the second time.

“It feels fantastic to have won four Extreme Acts in a row – we last did it in 2013 then went on to win the Extreme Sailing Series championship so it would be great if we could do that again,” said McMillan, who with his crew Pete Greenhalgh, Nasser Al Mashari, Sarah Ayton and Ed Smyth, was presented with the Land Rover ‘Above and Beyond’ award for making it ‘four in a row’.

Of the 31 races completed in Istanbul, The Wave, Muscat finished on the podium 25 times, despite breaking a jib halyard in the penultimate race. Their dazzling scorecard included 11 outright wins leaving little doubt as to their 2015 title ambitions.

“We have really enjoyed racing in Istanbul and it seems the more we enjoy it, the better we do so we are looking forward to Sydney where we will aim to make it five in a row though only need to finish in the top five to win the 2015 title,” he said.

Both Oman Sail crews were thrilled with their Istanbul performances and already looking ahead to Sydney, the final Act of the year, where similar breezy conditions could see a resumption in their on-water battles.

“We are really excited about Sydney because there were a lot of plus points to have come out of Istanbul since we feel we are managing the boat better and achieving greater consistency,” said Oman Air skipper Morrison.

“If there is a good breeze down there, we might even give Leigh and the guys a run for their money!”

The Wave, Muscat bowman Nasser Al Mashari who is also a regular on Oman Sail’s GC32 Sultanate of Oman admitted to bursting with pride at Oman Sail’s success over the weekend with a first and second in the Extreme Sailing Series Istanbul and overall victory in the 2015 Bullitt GC32 Racing Tour that concluded in Marseille yesterday.

“We are very happy to have won here in Istanbul but also really excited to have seen Oman Air on the podium for the first time,” he said.

“On top of the Sultanate of Oman’s win in Marseille, these results are great news for Oman and make us all very proud. We will go to Australia knowing that both The Wave, Muscat and Oman Air are on top form.”

The final Act of the 2015 Extreme Sailing Series starts in Sydney on Thursday December 10 and continues through to Sunday December 13 when the series winners will be crowned.