Hamburg, 26 July – The Australian crewed British sailing team GAC Pindar were forced to pull out of the final day of the Extreme Sailing Series in Hamburg following a collision with SAP Racing.
The incident occurred at the start line of Race 22, Act 5 as both teams jostled for starting position. Race umpires confirmed that the British crew were the innocent party in the incident and awarded a redress of points for the remainder of the day.
Extreme Sailing Series Race Director Phil Lawrence explains: “The GAC Pindar port hull went under the SAP windward hull, which resulted in the collision on the start line. SAP were given a 45 second starting penalty for the next race whilst GAC Pindar have been given redress for the remainder of the Act.”
GAC Pindar Skipper Seve Jarvin commented, “The main thing was that everyone was O.K, but it’s obviously a little frustrating that a misjudgment ends our regatta. At the moment we’re unsure of the level of damage caused to the boat.
“I felt we improved during the day and took more ownership at the start by being more aggressive. It’s just a shame we didn’t have a chance to try and finish the regatta with a flourish.”
Team Principal Andrew Pindar commented, “It's a matter of resigned frustration for sponsor and team given we were seeing some strong progress during this great new event in Hamburg, but we have to accept that while today we were the offended, previously we have been the offender so we can't whinge and moan too much. We’re now looking forward to the next Act in Russia.”
Here's the official release from the Extreme Sailing Series:
The Wave, Muscat sailed an outstanding final day in Germany, at Act 4 of the Extreme Sailing Series presented by Land Rover. Three race wins and two podium finishes saw Britain’s Leigh McMillan clinch his third 2015 Act title after four spectacular days of racing in the heart of the city and extend his lead at the top of the overall Series leaderboard.
“We do enjoy the pressure of a final day,” said McMillan as he stepped off the boat after winning the day with an average 9.14 points per race* according to the SAP Analytics, “We got out of the blocks well with a win in race one and that set the tone. It was an amazing performance by the team; everyone was so fired up this morning and it really showed on the water.”
But this wasn’t a case of The Wave, Muscat running away with the regatta. Pushing them all the way were Gazprom Team Russia who went into the final day of an outstanding event with fire in their eyes.
Helm Phil Robertson’s determination on the dock was unquestionable: “We’re going to go out there like a pack of hungry dogs,” he promised. And his team did not disappoint. Duelling with Danish crew SAP Extreme Sailing Team all the way through the last metres of the final double points race to take second overall, their best result to date, the young Russian crew picked up the Land Rover Above and Beyond Award for their effort.
The Danes, co-skippered by Jes Gram-Hansen and Rasmus Køstner, were third overall after being pushed down the rankings in the final race of the day by some tactical sailing by McMillan’s crew. This allowed Team Turx and Lino Sonego Team Italia to finish the Act on a high – with a first and second place respectively.
“I wasn’t particularly comfortable pushing them out of the final race but you just have to look at the overall Series leaderboard, and they are a major threat. We have to take whatever opportunity we can,” McMillan explained. But Køstner seemed unfazed: “The Wave, Muscat are afraid of losing points to us, so we take it as a compliment. They are scared of racing us later in the season.”
New to the Series for 2015 Hamburg, Germany delivered perfect Stadium Racing conditions that saw the fleet of nine elite level Extreme 40s race in everything from 8–30knots in blue skies to rumbling thunderstorms. With crowds of over 44,000 lining the HafenCity waterfront to watch, there was no shortage of drama.
After their dramatic capsize on Saturday, SAP Extreme Sailing Team continued to entertain with a crash on the start line today when their hull landed on top of GAC Pindar. Fortunately there was no serious damage or injuries to the sailors on either boat but GAC Pindar were forced to retire for the day with a broken bowsprit.
The young crew on-board Team Extreme Germany struggled to get to grips with the high performance catamarans but improved steadily throughout the weekend much to the delight of local fans.
With an eye firmly on the overall 2015 Series championship and three Acts remaining, The Wave, Muscat lead by a slim three-point margin over SAP Extreme Sailing Team. Red Bull Sailing Team round up the overall podium three points adrift in third.
The eight Act global Series will now move on to Russia for the Extreme Sailing Series Act 6, Saint Petersburg presented by SAP from the 20- 23 August.
Extreme Sailing Series 2015 overall standings
Position / Team / Points
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 47 points.
2nd SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 44 points.
3rd Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 41 points.
4th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) 33 points.
5th Oman Air (OMA) 29 points.
6th Team Turx (TUR) 24 points.
7th GAC Pindar (GBR) 24 points.
8th Lino Sonego Team Italia (ITA) 18 points.
Extreme Sailing Series Act 5, Hamburg presented by Land Rover standings after Day 4, 26 races (26.07.15)
Position / Team / Points
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari 200 points.
2nd Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Phil Robertson, Garth Ellingham, Alexander Bozhko, Aleksey Kulakov 190 points.
3rd SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Hervé Cunningham, Mads Emil Stephensen, Nicolai Sehested 183 points.
4th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Hans-Peter Steinacher, Jason Waterhouse, Jérémy Bachelin, Shaun Mason, Stewart Dodson 182 points.
5th Oman Air (OMA) Stevie Morrison, Nic Asher, Ted Hackney, Ed Powys, Ali Al Balashi 178 points.
6th Team Turx (TUR) Edhem Dirvana, Mitch Booth, Selim Kakış, Diogo Cayolla, Pedro Andrade/Can Bayülken 171 points.
7th Lino Sonego Team Italia (ITA) Lorenzo Bressani, Enrico Zennaro, Stefano Ciampalini, Stefano Rizzi, Manuel Modena 156 points.
8th GAC Pindar (GBR) Seve Jarvin, Adam Minoprio, Marcus Ashley-Jones, James Corrie, James Wierzbowski 134 points.
9th Team Extreme Germany (GER) Paul Kohlhoff, Philip Kasueske, Johann Kohlhoff, Peter Kohlhoff, Max Kohlhoff 78 points.
*Score in points: Winner scores 10 points, second scores 9 points etc.
