On an exceptional day for both Oman Sail’s Extreme 40 crews, a total of 10 podium places were achieved including two outright victories for Stevie Morrison’s Oman Air and one for the crew on The Wave, Muscat.
By the end of the day, two-time Extreme champion McMillan had extended The Wave, Muscat’s lead over second placed Red Bull to a sizeable 24 points which according to the skipper put them in a good position to close down an overall victory on the final day.
“We have had a very good day and our plan is to hold firm to the end to make it three victories in a row following our wins in Cardiff and Hamburg and match what we did three years ago,” said McMillan.
“Everyone was in sync today, working really well together and putting into practice what we have learned. But tomorrow is the last day and we can take nothing for granted because the wind will be blowing in a different direction which is bound to mix things up a bit.”
One of McMillan’s key crewmembers Sarah Ayton said they were revelling in the conditions on the River Neva and enjoying racing together as a team.
“These results today reflect the really good teamwork on The Wave, Muscat with Leigh and Pete Greenhalgh at the back and Nasser Al Mashari on the bow – it is really high energy and very enjoyable.”
Spirits were high too on Oman Air who at the start of the day were lying in sixth place overall but by the close had risen two places to fourth, after scooping two wins in nine races with two other podium places added to boost their score.
“We had a good day’s racing and for once, our results reflected our performance!” said skipper Stevie Morrison.
“Luck plays a part in this sort of racing and today a couple of gaps opened up that we were able to capitalise on so we kept chipping away. As a crew we are definitely understanding the boat better and feel we are sailing well.”
Omani bowman Ali Al Balushi, who is new to the Extreme Sailing Series this year, was also getting a taste for success and looking ahead to what they might be able to achieve on the last day, including the final double points race.
“There are 13 points between us and Lino Sonego Team Italia but if we sail well and post some good performances, we will be pushing for a podium place,” he said.
“We feel like we are sailing well and getting better all the time. It will be tight but we will be doing everything we can to close the gap and win our first podium place.”
Racing in St Petersburg, which finishes on Sunday August 23, can be followed on the Extreme Sailing Series website with live video, live streaming of the SAP analytics and dynamic leaderboards. Fans can also follow the new event twitter handle @exssLIVE for all the updates from the water. See more at www.extremesailingseries.com
