Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 4, Cascais Overall
by Extreme Sailing Series 8 Jul 2018 17:46 PDT
5-8 July 2018
Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 4, Cascais day 4 © Lloyd Images
Having led the fleet of super-speed, hydro-foiling GC32 catamarans on every single day of racing, Swiss team Alinghi secured another Act win today in Cascais, Portugal, in the mid-season battle for the Extreme Sailing Series™ top spot.
Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey and Timothé Lapauw exhibited faultless sailing throughout the event, taking their third Act win of the 2018 season.
Having entered the Cascais regatta tied on overall points with Danish SAP Extreme Sailing Team, the Swiss were pleased to break free and into the lead once again.
"It's great to win here in Cascais," said co-skipper and helm, Arnaud Psarofaghis. "We've sailed really well all week and didn't really have any bad races. The team did a great job of flying around the racecourse. Overall, very happy."
The Danes put up a good fight, finishing the Portuguese Act in second place. The team's skipper, Rasmus Køstner commented on the battle that ensued on the water.
"It was a pretty intense day trying to fight it out with Alinghi," he admitted. "They're not making many mistakes at the moment so their win is well-deserved. We will continue the battle in Cardiff."
They may not have taken the top spot, but SAP Extreme Sailing Team did clock the fastest speed ever recorded in the 12 year history of the Series. Making the most of Cascais' big breeze and perfect foiling conditions, the Danish squad hit a top speed of 37.9 knots on the second day of the event, an insight provided by SAP. They were awarded the Zhik Speed Machine trophy for their achievement.
Although fans are used to seeing Oman Air on the Act podium, the Omani contingent fell off the pace in this week's racing. A lack of consistency in their results across the Act saw them give up their third place spot on the event's penultimate day, allowing British INEOS Rebels UK to finish day four with a foot on the podium for the first time this year.
"It's a positive step forward to take third place here in Cascais," said an enthusiastic Will Alloway, Skipper for the British squad. "The conditions out there today were really testing so this is a great result for us. Each Act we are improving but there's still plenty of work to do. We're now looking forward to heading home to the UK for the next event; we're excited to race in front of home crowds in Cardiff."
Oman Air did, however, manage to hold onto their third place position in the overall rankings.
For the Portuguese wildcard crew, Cascais has been a steep learning curve. Taking part in a programme devised to give local young sailors experience in the ultimate Stadium Racing championship, the boys on board Team Portugal were truly put through their paces over the last four days of racing. Skipper and mentor, Luís Brito, was full of respect for his crew.
"I'm so proud of these young Portuguese sailors," he said. "Today was even tougher for us than the previous days, but we're really pleased with the Team Portugal project and how we've faired in the Act. We hope to return next year to sail for our country once again."
In the Flying Phantom Series, local crew UON Sailing Team took home the owner-driver trophy, finishing fourth overall.
"It was amazing to race here in Cascais," said a pleased Helder Basilio, crew for the team. "We've had a great four days of sailing, with perfect conditions each afternoon. There has been a lot of local support on shore and we've achieved our goal of winning the Owner-Driver trophy, so we're very happy."
Idreva Zephyr Foiling broke Team France Jeune's string of Act wins, as the teams finished first and second respectively. Culture Foil rounds up the podium in third. The next event in Cardiff will be the deciding Act for the Flying Phantom Series.
Having worked towards ensuring Act 4, Cascais was as sustainable as possible, the Extreme Sailing Series achieved recognition in the Sailors for the Sea 'Clean Regattas' awards system, securing the Gold Award for the event.
A global tour, the Series next heads to Cardiff, UK, from 24 – 27 August, before heading further afield to San Diego, USA, and Los Cabos, Mexico. With only three Acts left this year for the GC32 sailors, the pressure mounts and the competition gets fierce. The Extreme Sailing Series trophy is within reach.
Extreme Sailing Series™ 2018 Act 4, Cascais Overall Results: (28 races)
1st, Alinghi (SUI) Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Timothé Lapauw, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey: 309 points
2nd, SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Rasmus Køstner, Adam Minoprio, Julius Hallström, Pierluigi de Felice, Richard Mason: 294 pts
3rd, INEOS Rebels UK (GBR) Will Alloway, Leigh McMillan, Oli Greber, Adam Kay, Mark Spearman: 288 pts
4th, Oman Air (OMA) Phil Robertson, Pete Greenhalgh, James Wierzbowski, Stewart Dodson, Nasser Al Mashari: 282 pts
5th, Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Ed Powys, Neil Hunter, Dan Morris, Rhys Mara: 250 pts
6th, Team México (MEX) Erik Brockmann, Tom Buggy, Alex Higby, Tom Phipps, Danel Belausteguigoitia Fierro: 222 pts
7th, Team Portugal (POR) Luís Brito, Henrique Brites, Adam Piggott, Bernardo Loureiro, João Assoreira: 182 pts
Extreme Sailing Series™ 2018 Overall Standings (after Act 4)
1st, Alinghi (SUI) 45 points
2nd, SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 44 pts
3rd, Oman Air (OMA) 41 pts
4th, INEOS Rebels UK (GBR) 37 pts
5th, Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 33 pts
6th, Team México (MEX) 27 pts
7th, NZ Extreme Sailing Team (NZL) 7 pts
Flying Phantom Series Act 4, Cascais Overall Results: (22 races)
1st, Idreva Zephyr Foiling (FRA) Charles Hainneville, Thibault Julien: 438 pts
2nd, Team France Jeune (FRA) Morgan Lagravière, Manon Audinet: 430 pts
3rd, Culture Foil (FRA) Nicolas Ferellec, Théo Constance: 397 pts
4th, UON (POR) José Caldeira, Helder Basilio: 393 pts
5th, Masterlan (CZE) David Krizek, Milan Harmacek: 365 pts
6th, Flying Frogs (FRA) Kim Ann Le Formal, Arnaud Vasseur: 354 pts
7th, EVO Visian ICL (GER) Raphael Neuhann, Elias Neuhann: 353 pts
Flying Phantom Series 2018 Standings:
1st Team France Jeune (FRA) 79 points
2nd Idreva Zephyr Foiling (FRA) 76 pts
3rd Culture Foil (FRA) 71 pts
4th UON (POR) 62 pts
5th Flying Frogs (FRA) 59 pts
6th Masterlan (CZE) 55 pts
7th EVO Visian ICL (GER) 42 pts
8th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 36 pts
9th Team France Jeune 2 (FRA) 17 pts
10th Pegasius Project (FRA) 16 pts
11th Team France Jeune 3 (FRA) 14 pts
12th Surikat Coordination (FRA) 11 pts
13th Cup Legend (FRA) 10 pts
For more information, please visit the Extreme Sailing Series website.
Oman Air team third in 2018 Extreme Sailing Series after competitive event in Portugal (from Oman Sail)
The Oman Air team maintained their third place on the Extreme Sailing Series season leaderboard after a challenging and competitive encounter in Portugal.
On a fourth day at the Cascais venue that again featured close racing and plenty of high-speed foiling with the GC32 catamarans, the team succeeded in taking five podium places – including two second spots – in the six races held.
The Oman Air crew of skipper Phil Robertson, Pete Greenhalgh, Nasser Al Mashari, Stewart Dodson and James Wierzbowski had been able to resolve a mast set-up issue on the third day that had cost them speed and vital points. However, despite the series of strong results on the final day the team settled for fourth place on the Cascais table.
The Portugal Act was won by the ever consistent Alinghi team, ahead of the Danish-flagged SAP Extreme Sailing Team and INEOS Rebels UK, helmed by one-time Oman Sail skipper Leigh McMillan.
"We were getting some pretty good results today. We sailed our socks off to get ahead of INEOS, but we had to put a boat between us to get the points, so it was a big ask," said Greenhalgh, one of the most experienced sailors on the Extreme Sailing Series circuit.
The result sees Alinghi narrowly extend their lead at the top of the overall 2018 leaderboard with 45 points, with SAP on 44 and Oman Air completing the podium on 41, four points clear of INEOS.
Greenhalgh added: "As far as the season is concerned it is still all very close. We have just got to start winning the events to give ourselves a shot at winning overall – we will have a full debrief and make the changes we need to deliver that."
With four Acts now completed the Extreme Sailing Series season continues next month in Cardiff, UK, followed by San Diego in the US and the finale in Los Cabos, Mexico, in late November. With the final event scoring double points there remains plenty of scope for change.
"Looking at the points on offer for each event we are now exactly half way through the season," said Oman Air bowman Al Mashari.
"There is a long way to go and we will regroup and be focused on racing in Cardiff, and take the opportunity there to get close to the leaders," he added.
Racing in Cardiff is from 24-27 August.