Extreme Sailing Series - Seesaw day for J.P. Morgan BAR

by Sarah Alexander on 21 Feb 2014 In the Extreme Sailing Series, there were highs and lows for J.P. Morgan BAR as they delivered their debut at Act 1, Singapore. Across the fleet all 12 ESS teams struggled to maintain consistent performances in the tricky racing venue but despite the challenging sailing the British team still secured two race wins, in the fifth and sixth races of the day.

The comeback was welcome after the team were left disappointed with two last place finishes and relentlessly being tested by fluky shifty wind, sharp manoeuvres and the compact, tight fleet.

'Well it was definitely a really exciting day today, with lots happening on the race course! The morning and first few races started well for us, we had an OK middle of the day where we didn’t quite get everything right - but we did manage to avoid some potential crashes which is the main thing. The day picked up in race five and we really worked well and came together as a team. Looking forward to tomorrows racing, today has set the scene for a tricky, interesting event,' commented the team’s Mainsail Trimmer, Paul Goodison.

Sir Ben Ainslie continued: 'We are all having to learn pretty quickly and certainly in this tight venue - even for the experienced guys it’s pretty tough, because the wind changes so quickly and then you have to manoeuvre. Everyone had an up and down day, but I’m sure it was exciting to watch for the spectators, it’s a fantastic venue and we really enjoyed it. It’s definitely a very strong fleet, I did a couple of ESS events three seasons ago and I would say it’s one of the toughest there has been. We’ve just got to keep trying to improve; we’re obviously very new to this so we really learnt a lot today. Tonight we will go away, look at what we can take forward and as there are so many races, just keep doing the best we can.'

Racing continues at 14.30 local time on Friday 21st Extreme Sailing JP Morgan BAR Website