Extreme Sailing Series - Gazprom Team Russia sail smart in Hamburg

by Extreme Sailing Series on 25 Jul 2015 Gazprom Team Russia outperform experienced Extreme 40 heavyweights with five podium finishes to take the overnight lead.

Another outstanding performance by Gazprom Team Russia on day two of the Extreme Sailing Series™ Act Five, Hamburg presented by Land Rover, as they posted four second place results and one race win. Following their impressive opening day off the HafenCity waterfront, they now leapfrog Extreme 40 heavy weights SAP Extreme Sailing Team and The Wave, Muscat to take the lead on 111 points.

After racing, a calm and collected helm Phil Robertson explained that good communication among the crew was the key to their success: “It is so much better and that’s the biggest thing we are working on. It just helps when the wind is light, it gives us more time to talk which means more time to translate from the Kiwi to Russian.”

A testing day on the River Elbe, a patchy four - nine knot breeze but strong tides and regular brakes for passing commercial traffic interrupted the flow of racing. The result, a game of snakes and ladders for the teams that didn’t allow them to lose focus for a moment: “It was tricky today, the name of the game was to be as flexible as possible, and adapt to the changing conditions and the other boats,” said helm of Team Turx powered by Kaya Ropes, Mitch Booth.

“There were no set patterns, every race was different, every strategy had to be different, I had to use all my knowledge and experience today to try and weasel our way through it. It was really tough,” he added.

Drawing on his Olympic medal race experience, Booth sailed to victory in race 10 whilst fellow Olympian Lorenzo Bressani at the helm of Lino Sonego Team Italia took a third in race 13. But the unexpected moment of glory today went to GAC Pindar in race 12. Australian skipper Seve Jarvin chose a risky port start, ducked the fleet, broke from the pack and popped out ahead to lead from start to finish.

Struggling with consistency and decision making, Leigh McMillan, helm on The Wave, Muscat unusually finished low in the fleet, losing his overnight lead and ending the day in third place overall. SAP Extreme Sailing Team, meanwhile, were consistent mid-fleet performers and held their second place in the overall standings.

Extreme Sailing Series™ Act Five, Hamburg presented by Land Rover standings after Day Two, 14 races (24.07.15)

Position / Team / Points

1. Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Phil Robertson, Garth Ellingham, Alexander Bozhko, Aleksey Kulakov 111 points.
2. SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Hervé Cunningham, Mads Emil Stephensen, Nicolai Sehested 107 points.
3. The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari 106 points.
4. Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Hans-Peter Steinacher, Jason Waterhouse, Jérémy Bachelin, Shaun Mason, Stewart Dodson 91 points.
5. Team Turx (TUR) Edhem Dirvana, Mitch Booth, Selim Kakis, Diogo Cayolla, Pedro Andrade 87 points.
6. Oman Air (OMA) Stevie Morrison, Nic Asher, Ted Hackney, Ed Powys, Ali Al Balashi 80 points.
7. Lino Sonego Team Italia (ITA) Lorenzo Bressani, Enrico Zennaro, Stefano Ciampalini, Stefano Rizzi, Manuel Modena 71 points.
8. GAC Pindar (GBR) Seve Jarvin, Adam Minoprio, Marcus Ashley-Jones, James Corrie, James Wierzbowski 67 points.
9. Team Extreme Germany (GER) Paul Kohlhoff, Philip Kasueske, Johann Kohlhoff, Peter Kohlhoff, Max Kohlhoff 34 points.