Extreme Sailing Series: From the Far East to the Middle East

The Extreme Sailing Series moves this week to the Sultanate of Oman and a stunning new venue, the Almouj Golf Course at The Wave, Muscat, for four days of competition on March 19-22. The 11 international teams dispersed after the opening Act in Singapore, and their carbon-fibre catamarans were shipped from the Far East to the Middle East.

The teams have used the short break to analyse their Act 1 performances, and one man hoping to improve on his team’s fifth place in Singapore is Franck Cammas, skipper of Groupama sailing team.

“We work with our coach Thierry Péponnet who analyses each of the races and this allows us to improve at every level including starts, mark rounding and manoeuvres. We also use the analytics provided by SAP. It is very interesting because this allows us to learn more about our competitors and about ourselves. The level of competition is high but we are in the game too, even though we recognise we need to progress if we want to be in the position to win.”

The Australian team on GAC Pindar have been riding on the crest of a wave since their Extreme 40 debut in Singapore, with the Team Australia announcement of a home-grown crew as the Challenger of Record for the 35th America’s Cup, including GAC Pindar’s Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton, Troy Tindill and Ed Smyth. The Act in Singapore was a baptism of fire for the Australian team, and Jarvin, who recently won the his sixth JJ Giltinan 18ft Skiff championship title, effectively the world championship for the class.

“The racing was super tough in Singapore,” admitted Newton. “We struggled with starting and on those short courses starting is critical. Consistency is the key; we were probably pushing the boundaries in a lot of areas. I think we could have been a lot more conservative.” David Gilmour, son of Australian sailing legend Peter Gilmour who is also the youngest skipper to hold a card for the Alpari World match racing tour, will join GAC Pindar in Muscat for his Stadium Racing debut.

Ernesto Bertarelli’s Swiss-flagged Alinghi, skippered by Morgan Larson, seeks to maintain the level that won Act 1 in Singapore. Larson will be joined by Olympic gold medallist Anna Tunnicliffe as tactician – a position she frequented in 2013. Other significant crew changes include Kiwi Stewart Dodson, runner up in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup who last year sailed with GAC Pindar, and who now joins Red Bull Sailing Team, whilst Realteam will continue their squad rotation programme bringing in Bryan Mettraux as headsail trimmer.

The fleet will race in stadium mode for four days, and fans around the globe can watch the racing live online beginning Thursday. Click here for details.

Extreme Sailing Series, Act 2 Muscat, crew lists

Alinghi (SUI)
Skipper/Helm: Morgan Larson (USA)
Tactician: Anna Tunnicliffe (USA)
Mainsail Trimmer: Pierre-Yves Jorand (SUI)
Headsail Trimmer: Nils Frei (SUI)
Bowman: Yves Detrey (SUI)

Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL)
Skipper/Helm: Dean Barker (NZL)
Mainsail Trimmer: Glenn Ashby (AUS)
Headsail Trimmer: James Dagg (NZL)
Bowman: Jeremy Lomas (NZL)
Floater: Edwin Delaat (NZL)

GAC Pindar (AUS)
Skipper/Helm: Seve Jarvin (AUS)
Mainsail Trimmer: Troy Tindill (AUS)
Headsail Trimmer: Ed Smyth (AUS)
Bowmen: Sam Newton (AUS)/David Gilmour (AUS)

Gazprom Team Russia (RUS)
Skipper/Tactician: Igor Lisovenko (RUS)
Helm: Paul Campbell-James (GBR)
Mainsail Trimmer: Alister Richardson (GBR)
Headsail Trimmer: Pete Cumming (GBR)
Bowman: Aleksey Kulakov (RUS)

Groupama sailing team (FRA)
Skipper/Helm: Franck Cammas (FRA)
Tactician: Sophie de Turckheim (FRA)
Mainsail Trimmer: Tanguy Cariou (FRA)
Headsail Trimmer: Thierry Fouchier (FRA)
Bowman: Devan Le Bihan (FRA)

J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR)
Skipper/Helm: Ben Ainslie (GBR)
Tactician: Nick Hutton (GBR)
Mainsail Trimmer: Paul Goodison (GBR)
Headsail Trimmer: Pippa Wilson (GBR)
Bowman: Matt Cornwell (GBR)

Oman Air (OMA)
Skipper/Helm: Rob Greenhalgh (GBR)
Mainsail Trimmer: Tom Johnson (AUS)
Headsail Trimmer: Will Howden (GBR)
Bowmen: Hashim Al Rashdi (OMA) /Musab Al Hadi (OMA)

Realteam (SUI)
Skipper/Mainsail Trimmer: Jérôme Clerc (SUI)
Helm: Arnaud Psarofaghis (SUI)
Headsail Trimmer: Bryan Mettraux (SUI)
Bowman: Thierry Wasem (SUI)
Floater: Nils Palmieri (SUI)

Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT)
Skipper/Helm: Roman Hagara (AUT)
Tactician/Mainsail Trimmer: Hans-Peter Steinacher (AUT)
Headsail Trimmer: Mark Bulkeley (GBR)
Bowman: Nick Blackman (NZL)
Floater: Stewart Dodson (NZL)

SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN)
Co-Skippers: Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) / Rasmus Køstner (DEN)
Helm: Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN)
Tactician: Rasmus Køstner (DEN)
Trimmers: Thierry Douillard (FRA)/Peter Wibroe (DEN)
Bowman: Nicolai Sehested (DEN)

The Wave, Muscat (OMA)
Skipper/Helm: Leigh McMillan (GBR)
Tactician: Sarah Ayton (GBR)
Mainsail Trimmer: Pete Greenhalgh (GBR)
Headsail Trimmer: Kinley Fowler (NZL)
Bowman: Nasser Al Mashari (OMA)

Click here for additional information.

Information provided by race media.