Flat Calms at Extreme Series Cardiff

Cardiff, Wales (August 27, 2017) – Although the day was blessed with glorious sunshine, much to the delight of the thousands of spectators lining Cardiff Bay, unfortunately there was no wind to go with it. The scoreboard remains unchanged after the penultimate day of Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 6, Cardiff, as no scoring racing is completed.

For leader SAP Extreme Sailing Team, it means it maintains its four-point lead going into the final day, while the rest of the international fleet has everything riding on tomorrow to close the gap.

Oman Air skipper Phil Robertson remains unfazed: “On a racecourse like this, nine points isn’t much of a lead. I think SAP Extreme Sailing Team has more to lose than to gain out there tomorrow. We are where we are so there’s not much we can do about it for now, we just have one day to make it happen.”

Race Director John Craig explained the conditions faced by the fleet: “Today we were waiting for the sea breeze to come in and it looked like it would. We ended up with about five knots at one point but it wasn’t stable enough to race, and then it just disappeared.

“We’re hoping that tomorrow we will get seven to eight knots of more stable breeze and that we’ll get some more racing in. Unfortunately, today we just got skunked,” added Craig.

The Flying Phantoms had slightly more luck, getting in three races before the wind completely dropped, to the fortune of Red Bull Sailing Team. The Austrian-flagged team of Thomas Zajac and Will Ryan seized the opportunity to further its attack on ZEPHYR by Idreva, who led into the day. The Olympic duo took two race wins to the French team’s one, meaning they finish ahead by one point. Culture Foil remains third. See the full results on the official website.

“We got three race wins yesterday and two today and now we’re on top so we’re happy with that. It’s great that the sun is out but it’s a shame that there’s no wind,” said helm Zajac, who won bronze in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The fleet will try again tomorrow for the final day of the Act, which includes the final double-points scoring race.

Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 6, Cardiff, standings after Day 3, 8 races
Position / Team / Points
1st SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Rasmus Køstner, Adam Minoprio, Mads Emil Stephensen, Pierluigi de Felice, Richard Mason 84 points.
2nd Alinghi (SUI) Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Timothé Lapauw, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 80 points.
3rd Oman Air (OMA) Phil Robertson, Pete Greenhalgh, James Wierzbowski, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari 75 points.
4th NZ Extreme Sailing Team (NZL) Graeme Sutherland, Josh Junior, Harry Hull, Shane Diviney, Josh Salthouse 73 points.
5th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Stewart Dodson, Adam Piggott, Will Tiller 68 points.
6th Land Rover BAR Academy (GBR) Rob Bunce, Owen Bowerman, Oli Greber, Adam Kay, Mark Spearman 66 points.
7th Team Extreme Wales (GBR) Stevie Morrison, Alain Sign, Martin Evans, Michael Beckett, James French 58 points.

The Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 6, Cardiff is being held August 25 – 28, 2017

To watch the racing live online… click here.
2017 Extreme Sailing Series™ overall standings

1st Oman Air (OMA) 54 points
2nd SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 54 pts
3rd Alinghi (SUI) 50 pts
4th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 47 pts
5th NZ Extreme Sailing Team (NZL) 40 pts
6th Land Rover BAR Academy (GBR) 40 pts

Event details – Scoreboard – Facebook – YouTube

Crew line-up for 2017 Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 6, Cardiff, UK

Alinghi (SUI)
Co-skipper/helm: Arnaud Psarofaghis (SUI)
Tactician/mainsail trimmer: Nicolas Charbonnier (FRA)
Headsail trimmer: Nils Frei (SUI)
Bowman: Yves Detrey (SUI)
Floater/foil trimmer: Timothé Lapauw (FRA)

Land Rover BAR Academy (GBR)
Skipper/bowman: Rob Bunce (GBR)
Helm: Owen Bowerman (GBR)
Mainsail trimmer: Oli Greber (GBR)
Headsail trimmer: Adam Kay (GBR)
Floater: Matt Brushwood (GBR)
Reserve: Mark Spearman (GBR)

NZ Extreme Sailing Team (NZL)
Skipper/mainsail trimmer: Graeme Sutherland (NZL)
Helm: Josh Junior (NZL)
Headsail trimmer: Harry Hull (NZL)
Foil trimmer: Josh Salthouse (NZL)
Bowman: Shane Diviney (IRL)
Reserve: Ned Dalbeth-Hudson (NZL)

Oman Air (OMA)
Skipper/helm: Phil Robertson (NZL)
Mainsail trimmer: Pete Greenhalgh (GBR)
Headsail trimmer: Ed Smyth (NZL/AUS)
Bowman: James Wierzbowski (AUS)
Bowman: Nasser Al Mashari (OMA)

Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT)
Skipper/helm: Roman Hagara (AUT)
Tactician: Hans Peter Steinacher (AUT)
Mainsail trimmer: Stewart Dodson (NZL)
Headsail trimmer: Adam Piggott (GBR)
Bowman: Will Tiller (NZL)

SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN)
Co-skipper/coach: Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN)
Co-skipper/tactician/mainsail trimmer: Rasmus Køstner (DEN)
Helm: Adam Minoprio (NZL)
Headsail trimmer: Pierluigi de Felice (ITA)
Bowman: Richard Mason (GBR)
Trim assist/grinder: Mads Emil Stephensen (DEN)

Team Extreme Wales (GBR)
Skipper/helm: Stevie Morrison (GBR)
Crew: Alain Sign (GBR)
Crew: James French (GBR)
Crew: Mickey Beckett (GBR)
Crew: Martin Evans (GBR)

2017 Extreme Sailing Series™ calendar
March 8-11 – Muscat, Oman
April 28-May 1 – Qingdao, China
June 29-July 2 – Madeira Islands, Portugal
July 20-23 – Barcelona, Spain
August 10-13 – Hamburg, Germany
August 25-28 – Cardiff, UK
October 19-22 – San Diego, USA
Nov 30-Dec 3 – Los Cabos, Mexico

Background: The Extreme Sailing Series is in its eleventh season, with this year’s eight event tour travelling through Middle East, Asia, Europe and the Americas. The platform used is the one design foiling GC32 catamaran, with the format highlighting ‘stadium’ short-course racing in front of the public.

Source: ESS