Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 4 in Portugal - Day 3
by Extreme Sailing Series 8 Jul 2012 00:36 PDT
5-8 July 2012
The penultimate day of the Extreme Sailing Series in Porto was one of the most sensational days the Series has ever witnessed. Two big crashes on the water forced both GAC Pindar and Oman Air to retire from racing, which unfortunately for GAC Pindar left them out for the day, and more public then the Series have ever witnessed in one day with thousand congregating on all sides of the riverbank, all of which was broadcast live on national Portuguese television.
The fleet completed seven races in champagne sailing conditions with 12 knots of breeze and blue skies in the magnificent stadium of the Douro river. The intensity on the water seemed to turn up a notch today, with many of the races going right to the line with the race management team even describing the second race of the day as the "closest race they have ever seen".
The thousands of public who turned out to witness the spectacle first hand did not go home disappointed tonight and it was the 'apprentices' on the circuit SAP Extreme Sailing Team who found themselves at the centre of most of the day's action, but not always for the right reason. A collision for the Danish team with the British-flagged GAC Pindar in race two in a classic port-starboard incident caused serious damage to the British team's port rudder, forcing them not only to retire from the race, but from the rest of the day, as skipper Andrew Walsh who has taken over from Ian Williams for this Act elaborated: "We were lining up to start at the starboard end and we managed get a good start. It was looking good until about five seconds after the start when SAP Extreme Sailing Team, who were looking for a port tack duck, didn't have enough room between us and the committee boat smashed into our port rudder and that was it for us. The boat will be back on the water tomorrow." Walsh and his team were awarded average points for the six races they missed today, which see them go into the final day in sixth place.
Race five of the day and the Danish team's luck had not improved. A collision with Oman Air left Morgan Larson's Omani boat with serious damage, as Larson explained: "We were following SAP Extreme Sailing Team into the mark and as they went in behind The Wave, Muscat we got a big puff of wind and a lift of about 17-18 knots. Leigh's team was basically in front of us, so the decision at that stage was to go straight through them which would have ruined both boats, or to bear away and go into the back of SAP Extreme Sailing Team who was going about 5 knots. So that was the choice we had to make. It was our fault." Larson's team were back for the next race, albeit with a broken bowsprit meaning the team couldn't fly their spinnaker and so struggled to keep up with the fully powered Extreme 40s in the remaining two races, and finish the day in fourth place.
In the final race of this penultimate day, fortunes improved for Gram Hansen and Rasmus, with a resounding win leaving them in high spirits going into tomorrow's final as Gram Hansen explained: "The whole team was on fire today but unfortunately we had a crash with GAC and that was my mistake and I feel sorry for putting them out the race today. We also had a big crash with Oman Air. There were too many boats in the race area but thankfully both boats survived. We have a few things to sort on the boat tonight but we will be ready for tomorrow."
Leigh McMillan stayed out of trouble today and his team The Wave, Muscat remain dominant, extending their lead to 28 points over second placed Roman Hagara and the Austrian Red Bull Sailing Team at the top of the leaderboard. Pierre Pennec and his French team Groupe Edmond de Rothschid were back on the water today with a new daggerboard after running aground yesterday and the team go into the final day in third place, just two points adrift of Red Bull Sailing Team and with it all to play for tomorrow.
The battle mid-leaderboard is just as close with the Swiss team Alinghi leading the second half of the fleet in fifth place on 98 points. GAC Pindar, who you can expect to be chomping at the bit to gain places tomorrow after their misfortunes today, are two points behind the Swiss, and with just 12 points separating them from eighth placed ZouLou it could all change tomorrow's decisive day.
A host of sports stars have joined the Extreme 40s over the last two days much to the delight of both the crowds and the media. Yesterday former Portuguese national footballer Joao Vieira Pinto and today, local hero Marc Janco, Captain of the Austrian National football team and forward for Porto FC had the chance to learn about sailing today from a double Olympic gold medallist joining Roman Hagara on the water, while Portuguese WRC Driver Armindo Araujo sailed with current one of the fastest men to sail around the world and current holder of the Jules Verne Trophy Fred Le Peutrec on ZouLou.
To wrap up what has been an extraordinary day, and in a feat never seen before on the Douro river, a fleet of NeilPryde windsurfers, illuminated by specially rigged LED sails, paraded underneath the iconic Dom Luis I Bridge this evening. The windsurfers, who were granted special permissions by the authorities to undertake the task, will race tomorrow afternoon as the main warm-up act to the final day of Extreme 40 racing as part of the NeilPryde Racing Series.
Follow the action unfold from the banks of the Gaia and Port on Sunday at the official event website or the yachtsandyachting.com homepage from 16:45 BST.
Act 4 Porto standings after Day 3
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan / Ed Smyth / Pete Greenhalgh / Hashim Al Rashdi / Bleddyn Mon 154 points
2nd Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher / Matthew Adams / Graeme Spence, Pierre Le Clainche 126 points
3rd Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA) Pierre Pennec / Arnaud Psarofaghis/ Herve Cunningham / Bernard Labro / Romain Petit 124 points
4th Oman Air (OMA) Morgan Larson / Will Howden / Charlie Ogletree / Nasser Al Mashari / Andy Maloney 108 points
5th Alinghi (SUI), Ernesto Bertarelli / Jean-Christophe Mourniac / Pierre Yves Jorand / Nils Frei / Yves Detrey 98 points
6th GAC Pindar (GBR) Andrew Walsh / Nick Rogers/ Mark Bulkeley / Adam Piggot / Jono Macbeth 96 points
7th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram\Hansen / Rasmus Kostner / Pete Cumming / Mikkel Rossberg / Jonas Hviid 89 points
8th ZouLou (FRA) Fred Le Peutrec / Philippe Mourniac / Jean-Sebastien Ponce / Bruno Jeanjean / Patrick Aucour 84 points
Update from the two Oman Sail teams after day 3
"Surprisingly we managed to gain a couple of points today," said McMillan, "and we have a nice lead going into the last day which is unusual. But you only need one mishap for things to go wrong, so nothing changes - the same mentality to push hard and hopefully come out on top tomorrow."
Hashim Al Rashdi, the Omani bowman, put their success down to great work between the five crew: "I think the team is working really well, with Bleddyn, our new fifth man, working well. I love racing in this place with the spectators watching us; Porto is a great place for sailing."
McMillan and his team have shown an incredible mastery of the currents and swirling winds in the River Douro, but he also admitted to a dose of luck. "We won the first race, but in the second race things weren't going our way. We couldn't find a way through and ended up in last place but the fleet was very close and all came together at the finish with everyone slowing each other down. We came down with a big gust and overtook five boats at the finish line. We thought it was ridiculous to be able to do that, very lucky and a bit embarrassing. But things happen. Everyone has their ups and downs and we've had our fair share of luck at this event so far." The Wave, Muscat, leads second-placed Red Bull by 28 points going into the final day.
The crew of Oman Air could have used some of McMillan's good luck today. Skipper Morgan Larson found himself stuck in an impossible situation at a very congested weather mark in race four. "As we were approaching the mark on starboard, we got a big puff and a lift, and were suddenly coming in at 17 knots," he said. "The Wave, Muscat, was on port in front of us, Alinghi to leeward, so nowhere to go below. We couldn't turn right, we were calling starboard on The Wave.
"The decision was either to go straight through The Wave, which would have ruined both boats, or the option was to bear away and go into the back of SAP. It was a tough situation where those two boats are doing under 2 to 4 knots, and we're coming in with rights at a high speed, but it would have been borderline criminal to run into them [The Wave], so we took the safer option of crashing into the back beam of SAP. Unfortunately our bowsprit took the helmsman, Jes Gram Hansen, off the boat, but he was OK, thankfully." Gram Hansen climbed back on board and SAP finished the race, but Oman Air had to retire from race four. With the bowsprit snapped from the collision, Oman Air was forced to compete in the remaining races without flying the gennaker downwind. In the final race of the day, Oman Air had a great start and led around the first mark, but could do little to defend as they watched the fleet sail past them. Oman Air has now fallen to 4th place overall, but still within striking distance of the podium.
Crewman Nasser al Mashari was philosophical about such a strange day, and hoped for better tomorrow. "It was a great day for us at the beginning, almost getting into 2nd overall, but then we hit SAP at the weather mark. It was a hard day, we have a few hours of boatwork to finish the repair and a refit after this event. Tomorrow I hope the boat is fixed and to fight for a place on the podium, and to have the Omani flag on the podium once again."
Hagara discusses Red Bull Sailing Team's win on day 2
Double Olympic gold medallist Roman Hagara was chipping away at the leaderboard all day in Porto on day 2, steadily narrowing the gap between him and closest rivals on the French boat Groupe Edmond de Rothschild. Race 16 was where it all started to go Hagara's way, a win for his Austrian team while the French could only muster an eighth narrowed the gap to just 2 points. We went onboard with him and his team in race 16 and got his analysis after.