A bright, sunny and gusty windy Saturday, 22nd February 2014 at the Marina Bay Singapore, where Extreme Sailing Series 2014 Act 1 is happening during this weekend. Having covered part of the Extreme Sailing on Friday 21st February, Saturday’s Extreme Sailing highlights proved to be even more exciting and fun to watch, along with an unfortunate crash between 2 of the Elite Extreme Sailing boats that happened in the late afternoon to evening time.
The crowds were in today to gather and watch the Extreme Sailing Series action and before the main competition started, there was a first ever novelty drag race of its kind in Singapore, the Breast Cancer Foundation’s dragon boat team ‘Paddlers in the Pink’ will take on Team Aberdeen Singapore in the bay before the main racing gets underway. It was great to show support to the heroines of “Paddlers in the Pink”, the Breast Cancer Foundation’s Dragon Boat Team, drawing great cheers from the spectators at The Promontory @ Marina Bay.
The Extreme Sailing Series kickstarted their competition at around 3pm and the 12 Elite Extreme Sailing boats were in high speed adrenaline action around the waters of Marina Bay Singapore. I was able to get closer to the sailors in action on the media boat for one of the races (with my media accreditation access) and you can spot their concentration, commitment, precision and teamwork during the Extreme Sailing races. This was also my maiden experience on a media boat photographing competitive sports sailing action and it was definitely a great learning experience that gave me close up Extreme Sailing Series sailing action!
Thereafter, I walked to the Marina Bay Sands area to photograph the Extreme Sailing Series from another location, angle and perspective of the Extreme Sailing Series action that is close to the public in a Stadium Sailing setting and how Marina Bay Singapore fits it perfectly. I wasn’t disappointed at all and with the gusty winds, it provided a good platform for the 12 Elite Extreme Sailing teams to showcase their skills, tactics and sailing.
At around the late afternoon, there was an unfortunate crash between Team Aberdeen Singapore and Groupama sailing team. Team Aberdeen Singapore caught one of the biggest gusts of the day as they came into the finish line struggling to hold off the pace and ploughing into the back of France’s Groupama sailing team. I was on the other side of the Marina Bay Sands when I heard the crash and I was glad that there were no major injuries to the sailors from Team Aberdeen Singapore and Groupama sailing teams. Safety was the first and foremost concern of the organisers, the safety boats were seen moving into the area immediately to provide assistance and rescue the sailors. The damaged sailing boats were escorted to The Float@Marina Bay for assessment and repairs and let’s hope both boats can return in time tomorrow for Sunday’s Extreme Sailing Series competition in the afternoon!
Groupama sailing team skipper, Franck Cammas, explained what happened: “We had big gusts and as we were finishing a gybe we saw Aberdeen come really fast from behind and that’s the moment when they came over us breaking the mast. Besides the broken mast the damage is not too serious and it is mainly on the mast, the mainsail, the jib and a hole on the trampoline so I think we will be able to race tomorrow with another mast. Tanguy Cariou is the only crew member hurt but it’s only superficial injuries. He was in the middle of the trampoline where the boat fell, which was the worst spot. Three crew members jumped off the boat. It’s the risk of racing. What is tricky here is that the wind is quite strong and very gusty which is difficult to anticipate. It’s not easy.” – (Source: Extreme Sailing Series and Full Circle Public Relations)
At the end of Saturday 22nd February 2014, Day 3 of Extreme Sailing Series 2014 Act 1 Singapore, here are the results –
Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 Act 1, Singapore standings after Day 3, 21 races (22.02.14)
Position / Team / Points
1st Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Stuart Pollard, Pierre-Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 163 points.
2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler, Nasser Al Mashari 132 points.
3rd Realstone (SUI) Jérôme Clerc, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Bruno Barbarin, Thierry Wassem, Sebastien Stephant 130 points.
4th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter Steinacher, Mark Bulkeley, Nick Blackman, Haylee Outteridge 117 points.
5th Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) Dean Barker, Glenn Ashby, James Dagg, Jeremy Lomas, Edwin Delaat 117 points.
6th Groupama sailing team (FRA) Franck Cammas, Sophie de Turckheim, Tanguy Cariou, Thierry Fouchier, Devan Le Bihan 104 points.
7th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) Ben Ainslie, Nick Hutton, Paul Goodison, Pippa Wilson, Matt Cornwell 103 points.
8th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Peter Wibroe, Nicolai Sehested 95 points.
9th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Paul Campbell-James, Alister Richardson, Pete Cumming, Aleksey Kulakov 89 points.
10th Oman Air (OMA) Rob Greenhalgh, Tom Johnson, Will Howden, Hashim Al Rashdi, Musab Al Hadi 88 points.
11th GAC Pindar (AUS) Seve Jarvin, Troy Tindill, Ed Smyth, Sam Newton, Alexandra South 49 points.
12th Team Aberdeen Singapore (SIN) Nick Moloney, Adam Beashel, Scott Glen Sydney, Tom Dawson, Justin Wong 47 points.
(Results Courtesy of Extreme Sailing Series and Full Circle Public Relations)
It had been a exciting Saturday 22nd February 2014 at the Extreme Sailing Series Act 1 in Singapore! The Extreme Sailing Series 2014 Act 1 Singapore is now going to its final day on Sunday 23rd February, do drop by Marina Bay and The Promontory @ Marina Bay to catch the Extreme Sailing Series action!
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.