Gazprom Team Russia into the lead

As The Wave, Muscat bombs on day two of the Extreme Sailing Series Hamburg

Another outstanding performance by Gazprom Team Russia on day two of the Extreme Sailing Series Hamburg presented by Land Rover, saw the Russian team post four second place results and one race win. Following its impressive opening day off the HafenCity waterfront, it now leapfrogs Extreme 40 heavyweights SAP Extreme Sailing Team and The Wave, Muscat to take the lead on 111 points.

After racing, a calm and collected helm Phil Robertson explained that good communication among the crew was the key to their success: “It is so much better and that’s the biggest thing we are working on. It just helps when the wind is light, it gives us more time to talk which means more time to translate from the Kiwi to Russian.”

It was a testing day on the River Elbe, with a patchy 4-9 knot breeze, but strong tides and regular brakes for passing commercial traffic interrupting the flow of racing.

“It was tricky today, the name of the game was to be as flexible as possible, and adapt to the changing conditions and the other boats,” said helm of Team Turx powered by Kaya Ropes, Mitch Booth. “There were no set patterns, every race was different, every strategy had to be different, I had to use all my knowledge and experience today to try and weasel our way through it. It was really tough."

Drawing on his Olympic medal race experience, Booth sailed to victory in race 10 while fellow Italian Lorenzo Bressani, at the helm of Lino Sonego Team Italia took a third in race 13. But the unexpected moment of glory today went to GAC Pindar in race 12. Australian skipper Seve Jarvin chose a risky port tack start, ducked the fleet, broke from the pack and popped out ahead to lead from start to finish.

Struggling with consistency and decision making, Leigh McMillan, helm on The Wave, Muscat unusually finished low in the fleet, losing his overnight lead and ending the day in third place overall. SAP Extreme Sailing Team, meanwhile, was the most consistent mid-fleet performers and held second place in the overall standings.

Results: 

1st Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Phil Robertson, Garth Ellingham, Alexander Bozhko, Aleksey Kulakov 111 points.
2nd SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Hervé Cunningham, Mads Emil Stephensen, Nicolai Sehested 107 points.
3rd The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari 106 points.
4th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Hans-Peter Steinacher, Jason Waterhouse, Jérémy Bachelin, Shaun Mason, Stewart Dodson 91 points.
5th Team Turx powered by Kaya Ropes (TUR) Edhem Dirvana, Mitch Booth, Selim Kakış, Diogo Cayolla, Pedro Andrade 87 points.
6th Oman Air (OMA) Stevie Morrison, Nic Asher, Ted Hackney, Ed Powys, Ali Al Balashi 80 points.
7th Lino Sonego Team Italia (ITA) Lorenzo Bressani, Enrico Zennaro, Stefano Ciampalini, Stefano Rizzi, Manuel Modena 71 points.
8th GAC Pindar (GBR) Seve Jarvin, Adam Minoprio, Marcus Ashley-Jones, James Corrie, James Wierzbowski 67 points.
9th Team Extreme Germany (GER) Paul Kohlhoff, Philip Kasueske, Johann Kohlhoff, Peter Kohlhoff, Max Kohlhoff 34 points.