A relentless The Wave, Muscat wins Act 5 in Porto / Red Bull Extreme Sailing

Act 5 of the Extreme Sailing Series in Porto delivered the ultimate challenge in Stadium Racing for the eight international teams competing in this week’s races. A thrilling final day saw The Wave, Muscat claim a deserved win over Alinghi after having led the charge since race eight.

Porto (PORTUGAL) – The Extreme Sailing Series stopped off in Porto for the 2013 season’s fifth Act. The Portuguese sailing destination has earned itself a reputation as a stadium like no other with challenging sailing, cheering crowds and relentless on-water action, and had the competing teams contend with a narrow river, strong tides, big rocks and gusty winds.

After 30 races it came down to the wire between The Wave, Muscat and Alinghi with just three points separating two of the most experienced teams on the circuit. Impeccable boat handling by The Wave, Muscat’s skipper McMillan and a win in the final race – their tenth of the Act - ultimately saw the Omani flagged team sail to the top. “We managed to get a good start, managed to get our noses out and that's what it came down to in that last race,” explained an ecstatic McMillan.

Porto is the third Act win this season for McMillan and his crew following victories in Oman and Qingdao. That leaves them significantly tied on points with Alinghi at the top of the overall Series leaderboard.

Always in contention and pushing the top teams hard was Realteam who managed to secure their first ever podium position. The battle mid-fleet was equally tense between SAP Extreme Sailing Team and Red Bull Sailing Team. The Danish managed to muster a third place in the final race and finished Act 5 on the fourth place followed by the Austrians as fifth.

With four Acts complete and four Acts to go, the Series is at its halfway stage and next heads to the Welsh capital Cardiff where it will be hosted by the Cardiff Harbour Festival, 23-26 August.


Extreme Sailing Series 2013 Act 5, Porto standings after Day 4, 30 races (28.7.13)
Position / Team / Points
1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Ed Smyth, Pete Greenhalgh, Musab Al Hadi, Hashim Al Rashdi 248 points.
2nd Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Ben Lezin, Pierre Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 235 points.
3rd Realteam (SUI) Pierre Pennec, Bryan Mettraux, Nils Palmieri, Cédric Schmidt, Thierry Wassem 223 points.
4th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Pete Cumming, Mikkel Røssberg, Nicolai Sehested 214 points.
5th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Matthew Adams, Simon Cooke, Graeme Spence 204 points.
6th GAC Pindar (NZL) Will Tiller, Brad Farrand, Stewart Dodson, Harry Thurston, Shaun Mason 173 points.
7th ROFF Cascais Sailing Team (POR) António Mello, Bernardo Freitas, João Mello, Ricardo Schedel, João Matos Rosa 156 points.
8th Team Tilt (SUI) Lucien Cujean, Jocelyn Keller, Jeremy Bachelin, Thomas Mermod, Lionel Vaucher 156 points.

Extreme Sailing Series 2013 overall standings after Act 5, Porto
Position / Team / Points

1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 36 points.
2nd Alinghi (SUI) 36 points.
3rd Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 30 points.
4th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 27 points.
5th Realteam (SUI) 22 points.
6th GAC Pindar (NZL) 21 points.
7th Team X Invitational 17 points.
8th Team Korea (KOR) 16 points.