The Wave, Muscat bounces back

Leigh McMillan's team claims the Extreme Sailing Series Hamburg

The Wave, Muscat crew sailed an outstanding final day at the Extreme Sailing Series Hamburg presented by Land Rover. Three race wins and two podium finishes saw Britain’s Leigh McMillan clinch his third event title this season after four spectacular days of racing in the heart of the German city. The Oman team's lead at the top of the overall Series scoreboard.

“We do enjoy the pressure of a final day,” said McMillan as he stepped off the boat. “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 the Omani crew all the way was Gazprom Team Russia which has been gunning hard throughout this regatta.

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 Dane team, co-skippered by Jes Gram-Hansen and Rasmus Køstner, finished 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 event 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 was 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 nine Extreme 40s race in everything from 8 to 30 knots under blue skies and rumbling thunderstorms, with crowds of over 44,000 lining the HafenCity waterfront.

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 was forced to retire for the day with a broken bowsprit.

The young crew on board Team Extreme Germany struggled to get to grips with its Extreme 40 catamaran, but improved steadily throughout the weekend to the delight of local fans.

With an eye firmly on the overall 2015 Series championship and three events 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 Extremes now move on to Russia and Saint Petersburg presented by SAP over 20-23 August.

Results

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.

Extreme Sailing Series 2015 overall standings
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.