Alinghi rallies at Extreme Sailing Series Cardiff

Cardiff, UK (August 25, 2018) – After a tough day on the water at the Extreme Sailing Series™ Cardiff yesterday, Swiss team Alinghi reclaimed their place on the podium today. They closed the second day of the Cardiff competition in second place, following top-three finishes in all but one of the day’s races.

Back on winning form, the Swiss resumed their ongoing battle with their Danish counterparts. Chasing frontrunners SAP Extreme Sailing Team around the racecourse with impressive skill and determination, they outperformed the Danes in all but two of the races.

“We had a much better day today,” said an enthusiastic Arnaud Psarofaghis, co-skipper and helm for the team. “Our spare crew, Bryan Mettraux, flew in from Switzerland to replace Nils Frei due to the minor injury he suffered yesterday. It’s always so much easier to race with someone who knows the boat well. We’re back on the podium and we’re looking to re-take that top spot.”

Alinghi have never before won in Cardiff, despite having raced in the Welsh capital five times previously.

Today marked a very different day on the water for SAP Extreme Sailing Team. Having owned the racecourse yesterday, the Danes fell off the pace in the lighter winds, leaving their rankings littered with disappointing results.

“There were a couple of times when things didn’t go our way,” explained the team’s Kiwi helm, Adam Minoprio. “We misjudged the pressure and it cost us a lot of points. Combine that with the two bad starts we had, and we had very little chance of a podium finish in five out of eight races. Alinghi were so consistent today, which makes it worse, but we will just have to sail better tomorrow.”

It was another strong day on the water for the Brits, who have consistently set the bar high throughout the Cardiff Act. Five podiums across eight races saw INEOS Rebels close the day in third place. Although a disappointing step down from yesterday’s second place position, their skipper Will Alloway was unfazed by the result.

“The first races went really well but unfortunately we made some mistakes in the last few,” he said. “A debrief tonight then back at it tomorrow, I’m sure we’ll be a lot better then.”

The conditions on the racecourse could not have been further from those of yesterday. The rain and strong winds of day one gave way to glorious sunshine, as the crowds came out in force to line the shores of Cardiff Bay.

Spurred on by the shoreside support, local wildcard Team Wales battled it out with Team México throughout the day, determined to jump up the leaderboard and do their country proud. However, the team unfortunately required a crew change early on when their mainsail trimmer, Martin Evans, was taken ill.

“The crew change meant that we had to ease the new guy into it,” said the team’s foil trimmer, Welshman Gareth Fowler. “We improved a lot towards the end of the day though, we’re pretty hopeful for tomorrow.”

Racing is planned for August 24-27.

GC32 racing will run daily from 14:00 until 17:00 BST/UTC+1.
For live online streaming broadcast … click here.

Standings after Day 2, 16 races
1st, SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Rasmus Køstner, Adam Minoprio, Julius Hallström, Hervé Cunningham, Richard Mason: 166 points
2nd, Alinghi (SUI) Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Timothé Lapauw, Bryan Mettraux, Yves Detrey: 162 pts
3rd, INEOS Rebels UK (GBR) Will Alloway, Leigh McMillan, Oli Greber, Adam Kay, Bleddyn Mon: 158 pts
4th, Oman Air (OMA) Phil Robertson, Pete Greenhalgh, James Wierzbowski, Stewart Dodson, Nasser Al Mashari: 154 pts
5th, Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Chris Taylor, Ed Powys, Neil Hunter, Dan Morris, Rhys Mara: 144 pts
6th, Team México (MEX) Erik Brockmann, Tom Buggy, Alex Higby, Tom Phipps, Danel Belausteguigoitia Fierro: 116 pts
7th, Team Wales (GBR) Adam Piggott, Alain Sign, Martin Evans, Gareth Fowler, Peter McCoy, Kyle Stoneham: 108 pts

Series details – Event information – Scoreboard – Facebook

2018 Extreme Sailing Series™ overall standings (after 4 events):
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

2018 Extreme Sailing Series™ calendar
March 14-17 – Act 1 – Muscat, Oman
May 24-27 – GC32 World Championship, Lake Garda, Italy
June 14-17 – Act 3 – Barcelona, Spain
July 5-8 – Act 4 – Cascais, Portugal
August 24-27 – Act 5 – Cardiff, UK
October 18-21 – Act 6 – San Diego, USA
November 29-December 2 – Act 7, Los Cabos, Mexico

Background: The Extreme Sailing Series is in its twelfth season, with this year’s eight event tour travelling through Middle East, 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