Losing a crew over the side hardly broke the stride of Oman Air, sharing the top of the leaderboard with French favourites Groupe Edmond de Rothschild...
American Morgan Larson, new skipper of Oman Air, had an incredible start to his Extreme Sailing Series career on the opening day of Act 1 in Muscat, Oman. The forty-year-old, a passionate surfer, who lives in Oregon, USA, has an outstanding sporting CV including 3 America’s Cup campaigns and 6 World Championship titles but few pundits would have predicted the outcome today which resulted in Oman Air sharing the top of the leaderboard after 6 races alongside pre-season favourites Groupe Edmond de Rothschild: “I didn’t really know what to expect to be honest. I knew there are a lot of talented teams but I think the format of the sailing suits my style. I believe we can win this, we need podium positions at every event.”
Tomorrow the 8-boat Extreme 40 fleet will race in stadium mode inside the breakwater, surrounded by the outstanding residential development known as The Wave and home to Oman Sail. Watch the racing live online from 1130 GMT for the next 3 days.
The question everyone is asking here – who will win this season? The French team skippered by Pierre Pennec is renowned for their form and have been overall runners-up for the past two years. “We won the event last year and it’s always good to ‘mark’ your territory so to be competitive 100% on day one is good,” said trimmer Hervé Cunningham. On paper, this is the team to watch.
It was Leigh McMillan and his crew on The Wave, Muscat who scored first blood in the first race of the day. The conditions may not have been challenging with the breeze ranging from 6-10 knots throughout the afternoon and it wasn’t long before Pennec’s team took control to win the next 2 races. Race 4 delivered the drama of the day when Oman Air 5th crew member Max Bulger went over the side. “He somehow hung on to the rudder! I have seen a lot of people fall over board but I have never seen anyone hang on the way he hung on, it was quite impressive,” said Larson. He was quickly retrieved and Larson’s team of Will Howden, Charlie Ogletree and Nasser Al Mashari managed to regain their lead to win the race.
The new team on the Extreme Sailing Series circuit, Team Trifork, had their taste of their first real Extreme 40 competition and the Danish-led team loved it: “Difficult, lot of learning but lot of fun! We finished 3rd in one of the races and we were in the fight all the time,” said co-skipper Jes Gram-Hansen.
GAC Pindar, skippered by match racing supremo Ian Williams, were the new kids on the block last year but a year on and they are now contenders, ending the first day 3rd on the leaderboard.
Extreme Sailing Series 2012 Act 1, Muscat, Oman standings after Day 1, 6 races (28.2.12)
1st Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA) Pierre Pennec 36 points
2nd Oman Air (OMA) Morgan Larson 36 points
3rd GAC Pindar (GBR) Ian Williams 34 points
4th The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan 30 points
5th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara 26 points
6th ZouLou (FRA) Loick Peyron 22 points
7th Alinghi (SUI), Ernesto Bertarelli 17 points
8th Team Trifork (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen 15 points
From : Extreme Sailing Series
Credit : Lloyd Images
American Morgan Larson, new skipper of Oman Air, had an incredible start to his Extreme Sailing Series career on the opening day of Act 1 in Muscat, Oman. The forty-year-old, a passionate surfer, who lives in Oregon, USA, has an outstanding sporting CV including 3 America’s Cup campaigns and 6 World Championship titles but few pundits would have predicted the outcome today which resulted in Oman Air sharing the top of the leaderboard after 6 races alongside pre-season favourites Groupe Edmond de Rothschild: “I didn’t really know what to expect to be honest. I knew there are a lot of talented teams but I think the format of the sailing suits my style. I believe we can win this, we need podium positions at every event.”
Tomorrow the 8-boat Extreme 40 fleet will race in stadium mode inside the breakwater, surrounded by the outstanding residential development known as The Wave and home to Oman Sail. Watch the racing live online from 1130 GMT for the next 3 days.
The question everyone is asking here – who will win this season? The French team skippered by Pierre Pennec is renowned for their form and have been overall runners-up for the past two years. “We won the event last year and it’s always good to ‘mark’ your territory so to be competitive 100% on day one is good,” said trimmer Hervé Cunningham. On paper, this is the team to watch.
It was Leigh McMillan and his crew on The Wave, Muscat who scored first blood in the first race of the day. The conditions may not have been challenging with the breeze ranging from 6-10 knots throughout the afternoon and it wasn’t long before Pennec’s team took control to win the next 2 races. Race 4 delivered the drama of the day when Oman Air 5th crew member Max Bulger went over the side. “He somehow hung on to the rudder! I have seen a lot of people fall over board but I have never seen anyone hang on the way he hung on, it was quite impressive,” said Larson. He was quickly retrieved and Larson’s team of Will Howden, Charlie Ogletree and Nasser Al Mashari managed to regain their lead to win the race.
The new team on the Extreme Sailing Series circuit, Team Trifork, had their taste of their first real Extreme 40 competition and the Danish-led team loved it: “Difficult, lot of learning but lot of fun! We finished 3rd in one of the races and we were in the fight all the time,” said co-skipper Jes Gram-Hansen.
GAC Pindar, skippered by match racing supremo Ian Williams, were the new kids on the block last year but a year on and they are now contenders, ending the first day 3rd on the leaderboard.
Extreme Sailing Series 2012 Act 1, Muscat, Oman standings after Day 1, 6 races (28.2.12)
1st Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA) Pierre Pennec 36 points
2nd Oman Air (OMA) Morgan Larson 36 points
3rd GAC Pindar (GBR) Ian Williams 34 points
4th The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan 30 points
5th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara 26 points
6th ZouLou (FRA) Loick Peyron 22 points
7th Alinghi (SUI), Ernesto Bertarelli 17 points
8th Team Trifork (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen 15 points
From : Extreme Sailing Series
