The new venue at St Petersburg in Russia has called for a return to basics for both Oman Sail Extreme 40 crews on The Wave, Muscat and Oman Air as they prepare for Act 4 of the 2014 Extreme Sailing Series. With expectations of challenging sailing conditions, the fleet is assembling for another four days of stadium racing, starting from 26-29 June, against a spectacular historical backdrop.

Despite the cold and wet weather that greeted the teams when they landed in St Petersburg, they were keen to soak up the atmosphere, including Omani sailors Nasser Al Mashari, Hashim Al Rashdi and Musab Al Hadi who have found the weather a stark contrast to the heat and dry of Muscat.

It will be important to make good starts and no mistakes, skippers Leigh McMillan and Rob Greenhalgh agreed after they had taken their first look at the race track on the Neva River, the third largest river in Europe, which flows through the centre of St Petersburg. “The river is very tidal and we are expecting very light winds with choppy waters so it could be interesting,” said McMillan. “With the number of boats we have in the fleet, it will be tricky with lots of ups and downs."

Almost two months ago, the previous act in China saw a victory made by The Wave, Muscat in the final throes of the competition, putting it in second place in the overall standings behind long-time rival Alinghi. McMillan and his The Wave, Muscat crew, were disappointed by their fourth place in Qingdao but going into St Petersburg, they are hoping to jump the fleet.

“We will need to get on a roll, be as sharp as possible for the whole event and take every opportunity we can to jump the fleet and get back on the podium. Our goal, as it has always been, is to stay in the running.”

By contrast, stable-mates Oman Air had their best ever event in China despite being T-boned in the first 30 seconds of racing. The addition of America’s Cup winner Kyle Langford made a difference and Greenhalgh’s new team finished on the podium a creditable four times.

“The last event was good for us so we hope to keep improving here,” he said. “It’s a new sailing venue so we need to get familiar with the sailing area as quickly as possible but then it will be about starting well and minimising the mistakes. “We will try and do as well as we can here and keep on improving as the series goes on.”

Langford has raced in St Petersburg before but for the rest of the crews, this is their first visit to Russia’s second largest city.
Oman Air's hard work in the Act paid off in the ultimate day when they achieved their best result of this year’s Extreme Sailing Series edition.

Act 4 St Petersburg will be hosted by the Saint Petersburg Yacht Club and fans around the world can watch the racing live from the 27 June, from 1600-1730 local time in Saint Petersburg, 1300-1430 BST / 1400-1530. Live blog and results here at http://www.extremesailingseries.com/.