Tight battle at the top on day two of Extreme Sailing Series Hamburg

A sunny day on the River Elbe coupled with a lively breeze saw SAP Extreme Sailing Team and Alinghi challenge Oman Air for honours on the second day of the Extreme Sailing Series™ in Hamburg, but it’s Morgan Larson’s dominant Omani team who go into the clubhouse in first place at the half way stage of the Act.

The public lining the stadium in the port city were treated to seven races and plenty of foiling action, as the teams from Denmark and Switzerland went on the rampage, rarely out of the top three scorers for the afternoon’s races.

Putting in equally impressive performances, both teams notched up 68 points, leaving Arnaud Psarofaghis and the team on Alinghi with a minor one point advantage over SAP Extreme Sailing Team on the leaderboard, in second place overall.

“It was a good day for us, we made a few mistakes but overall everything went well and we had some nice comebacks,” explained Psarofaghis. “It was quite intense out there, everyone is fighting with each other, but you just have to sail your own race and come back tomorrow and do the same.”

Fresh from the World Match Racing Tour final in Marstrand three weeks ago, Taylor Canfield and his team on CHINA One sailed a near flawless day. Two penalties in the day’s opening race and a last place finish was the only real blip on their scorecard which included two race wins. The team finish the day in fourth place, tied on points with Red Bull Sailing Team.

“It didn’t feel like we had a really good day. It felt pretty up and down and everyone has their share of good and bad races. It’s pretty gut-wrenching (when you lose out on the finish line) but not letting the little things get to you is the name of the game,” commented Canfield.

“Everything was going well on board and we are getting better and better. With two new guys in the boat at this event it is a bit of a disadvantage but we are adjusting quickly so come tomorrow, we will be sharp as a nail.”

Sail Portugal – Visit Madeira, racing with an all Portuguese crew for the first time took their best result in race four finishing second, while the youth squad onboard Land Rover BAR Academy saved their best for last, clinching third place in the day’s final race.

“We were super stoked today, especially with the result in that final race,” commented Land Rover BAR Academy’s 21-year old skipper Neil Hunter. “We were mixing it up with the top teams throughout the day, a few errors cost us with the results, but overall we’re really pleased. It was a super tricky day for all of the teams, really up and down, but generally we’re always improving – I think it’s positive moving forward.”

Two days of racing remain in Hamburg, with tomorrow’s racing available to watch live online from 1530 GMT+2 at extremesailingseries.com.

Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 4, Hamburg standings after Day 2, 9 races (29.07.16)
Position / Team / Points
1st Oman Air (OMA) Morgan Larson, Pete Greenhalgh, James Wierzbowski, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari 99 points.
2nd Alinghi (SUI) Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Timothé Lapauw, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 87 points.
3rd SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Mads Emil Stephensen, Pierluigi De Felice, Renato Conde 86 points.
4th CHINA One (CHN) Taylor Canfield, Chris Steele, Hayden Goodrick, Dan Morris, Frederik Aurell 82 points.
5th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Jérémy Bachelin, Adam Piggott, Brad Farrand 82 points.
6th Sail Portugal – Visit Madeira (POR) Diogo Cayolla, Luís Brito, João Matos Rosa, Nuno Barreto, Frederico Mello 69 points.
7th Land Rover BAR Academy (GBR) Neil Hunter, Owen Bowerman, Will Alloway, Rob Bunce, Adam Kay 62 points.

– Regatta Media