Extreme Sailing Series Sydney - J.P. Morgan BAR looks ahead

by J.P. Morgan BAR on 10 Dec 2014 In the Extreme Sailing Series for the first time ever in its history, the global circuit heads to Sydney, Australia for the season finale. The final event promises to be an Act to remember for British entry, J.P. Morgan BAR – with double points on offer and plenty of potential movement in the overall points standings.

The race course is backed by the city’s iconic Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, and offers the quintessentially fast, tight stadium racing that epitomises the Extreme Sailing Series. With so many points at stake, it’s fair to expect plenty of action for both sailors and spectators.

Team Skipper, Ben Ainslie, has good memories of racing in Sydney – the city where he claimed his first Olympic gold medal, back in 2000. 'Personally Sydney is one of my favourite sailing venues and it’s a great place to end the series. We are all looking forward to good conditions and some solid racing against such a stunning backdrop.

'It’s a complex sport and we are still learning a lot about this style of racing, but we have built up through the series and as a team we are pleased with our position overall going into the final Act. Things have really come together for us, we have made good progress and hope to finish the Series overall in the top half of the fleet.'

After their podium finish in Nice, just over two months ago, the Brits head into the last event in fifth place overall, with 37 points. Team Tactician, Paul ‘CJ’ Campbell-James, a two-times Extreme Sailing Series Champion, commented on the team’s ambitions for the week, 'It’s clear that as a team we have steadily improved and built on our race performances and we will work hard to push on to maintain the momentum from Nice.

'The double points will be interesting and ultimately, we would like to go out there and claim a podium finish in Sydney and if everything goes right for us, hopefully a podium finish on the overall circuit. Five teams are in the running for this, efficiency is going to be crucial this week.'

With a mid-fleet battle on their hands and 15 knots or more forecast for each day, the final four days of racing will be a challenge. Bowman, Matt Cornwell, spoke on the sailing conditions, 'Condition wise, the forecast is looking fairly fresh, we should see some higher end wind strengths over the weekend – which is a positive for us and certainly mixing things up a little bit.

'We can certainly jump up a place or two in the rankings, today we spent some time on the water, getting used to the course and the current out there, but there’s still a bit more local knowledge to figure out over our first few days.'
Racing begins at 14:00 local time (03:00 GMT) and live racing will be streamed at J.P. Morgan BAR website from Friday 12th – Sunday 14th December 1530-1700 local Time (0430-0600 GMT).

Full J.P. Morgan BAR Act Eight, Sydney, Team list:
Skipper – Ben Ainslie
Tactician – Paul Campbell-James
Bowman – Matt Cornwell
Trimmer – Nick Hutton
Fifth Man – Bleddyn Mon
Richy O’Farrell
Ian McCabe
Simon Daubney
Alex Hopson

Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 overall standings
Position - Team - Points
1st Alinghi (SUI) 65 points
2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 57 points
3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 49 points
4th Realteam by Realstone (SUI) 45 points
5th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) 37 points
6th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 30 points
7th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 28 points
8th Oman Air (OMA) 24 points
9th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) 24 points
10th Groupama sailing team (FRA) 22 points
11th GAC Pindar (AUS) 11 Event website