Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 1 Singapore Highlights

The opening Act of the Extreme Sailing Series™ more than lived up to all the pre-season hype and expectation, where the new teams got stuck in on the Singapore stadium racecourse — but couldn’t quite topple the old order — with three returning teams from 2013 taking honours. An estimated 30,000 spectators watched over four days, as Ernesto Bertarelli’s Swiss team Alinghi sailed a near perfect regatta, with Morgan Larson, Stuart Pollard, Pierre Yves Jorand, Nils Frei and Yves Detrey, finishing more than 50% of the 29 races in the top three. The team had the Act wrapped up before the final double-points race — a feat rarely seen on the circuit. “We couldn’t have dreamed for a better start,” commented an ecstatic Larson after racing. “It was challenging here and with the level of competition a couple of notches higher this season, I think we just carried on from last year and we’re the only team that hasn’t changed any of our crew. We will try and build on from last year and enjoy this victory!” The outcome of who would be stood to the left and right of the Swiss team on the podium was not so clear-cut, with Emirates Team New Zealand, The Wave, Muscat and Realstone all vying for glory. The Kiwi’s came flying off the start line in the final race, but it all went wrong for Dean Barker and his team shortly after that, and a penalty in the first beat for a port-starboard incident against The Wave, Muscat, lost them not only second place to the Omani boat, but third place to the Swiss. Barker commented: “It’s the first time we have raced together in five months, and our first time back on the circuit since 2011, and for sure we wanted to get a podium here, but couldn’t get away with it. We’re still rusty and have to focus our thoughts, but we’ll get there. We definitely had a great time here in Singapore.”