Extreme Sailing Series: Oman air eyes success in Qingdao

4/27/2016 7:40:21 AM

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily)

High scores in Muscat boosted confidence on board series leader Oman Air but conditions in Chinese city of Qingdao are tricky and Act 2 of the 2016 Extreme Sailing Series (ESS) is likely to be a tough contest when the action takes place from April 29-May 2.

The venue is regarded as one of the most challenging on the circuit so although skipper Morgan Larson's win in the opening Act in Oman - where it won more than half the races - has boosted the crew's confidence in the new GC32 class they have their task cut out.

Larson believes conditions in Fushan Bay are expected to make for some dramatic racing with the breeze unpredictable both in strength and direction and fog a constant feature.

Larson said 'Achieving consistency as quickly as possible will be more important than ever. Qingdao will throw some major challenges at us so we need to aim for consistency. These multihulls can be hard to direct and the course will be tight. So in the shifty winds it could be dramatic.'

The Oman Air skipper said 'We made a strong start in Muscat but we can't rest on our laurels and with everyone still learning the boats so fast we will definitely see some big improvements. Hopefully we will stay ahead of the rest. The win in Muscat gives us the confidence to believe we can achieve that.

Nasser al Mashari Oman Air bowman

'We are still learning about the GC32s and in what winds we can get the most out of them. For example if someone can get foiling in these windy conditions they will get far ahead. I saw a long-term forecast that looked windy which would be great.'

'Key lies in making good race starts'

Oman Sail boats have had a mixed record in Qingdao over the years reflecting the randomness of the conditions but in the new GC32s the key to success lies in making good starts according to Oman Air bowman Nasser al Mashari who teams up once more with Pete Greenhalgh Ed Smyth and James Wierzbowski.

'We worked hard on our starts in Muscat and it paid off' said Mashari.

'If you can start well it makes life easier over the rest of the course. So even though this is a very different race course in Qingdao we are hoping for a good performance on our starts and first leg and as ever we will be aiming to win.'

In Muscat Oman Air finished on the podium in 16 of the 19 races completed and claimed ten outright wins which gave it a lead by 33 points over Red Bull Sailing Teamin second place and earned it maximum points on the overall leaderboard.

'We were very happy with our performance in Muscat especially after the run-up where we were struggling with our boat speed and trimming' recalled Greenhalgh. 'Hopefully we can resume where we left off. We will be pushing hard but between Muscat and Qingdao everyone will have studied the videos so we are expecting the other teams to have made big improvements.'

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