Ben Ainslie applauds team’s effort as Oman Air takes third spot: 2011 Extreme Sailing Series Act 8
With just a one point difference from second placed Luna Rossa, Oman Sail’s Oman Air finished their 2011 Extreme Sailing Series Act 8 run on third podium spot with 232 points. Oman Air has clinched the third place for the second time in Extreme Sailing Series
season. Previously, they finished on rank three in Act 6 at Trapani behind The Wave Muscat and Groupe Edmond de Rothschild.
The Omani boat had a low performance in the beginning of the event but they gradually made it back to the top three podiums. Under the leadership of Great Britain’s Ben Ainslie, the Oman Air crew, comprising of Kinley Fowler, David Carr and Nasser Al Mashari,
showed excellent teamwork to accomplish a rather difficult task.
The standings were led by France’s Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and The Wave Muscat in the very beginning of the event, but they tumbled down to lower places as the event proceeded. However, the British skipper believes their finish in the top three podiums
is due to the overall team effort and he is quite happy with the performance his crew has shown at the port of Almeria.
Ainslie spoke to the reporters and said, “For me it was my first experience of multihull racing and I have learnt a huge amount, which for me is probably more important to me personally than the end result. To finish on the podium for the second time in
three events is a great team effort.”
The former Olympic gold medallist added, “It is a very high level of competition and when you look at the people on board the other boats, they are all extremely accomplished sailors. They are fighting for every inch and with the type of racing that we do
it ends up being very tight as the races are so short, and invariably you end up with collisions and action creating some exciting racing!”
Final standings of 2011 Extreme Sailing Series Act 8 at the port of Almeria:
1. Alinghi (SUI), Tanguy Cariou, Yann Guichard, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey = 254 points
2. Luna Rossa (ITA), Max Sirena, Paul Campbell-James, Alister Richardson, Manuel Modena = 233 points
3. Oman Air (OMA), Ben Ainslie, Kinley Fowler, David Carr, Nasser Al Mashari = 232 points
4. Team GAC Pindar (GBR), Ian Williams, Mischa Heemrskerk, Andrew Walsh, Brad Webb = 218 points
5. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA), Pierre Pennec, Christophe Espagnon, Thierry Fouchier, Hervé Cunningham = 216 points
6. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Adam Beashel, Ray Davies, Jeremy Lomas, Derek Seward = 213.5 points
7. The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Leigh McMillan, Kyle Langford, Nick Hutton, Khamis Al Anbouri = 209points
8. Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Matt Adams, Craig Monk = 202 points
9. Team TILT (SUI), Alex Schneiter, Boet Brinkgreve, Charles Favre, Nicolas Heintz = 155 points
10. Team Extreme (EUR), Roland Gaebler, Nahid Gaebler, Antón Paz, Tom Buggy = 151 points
11. Niceforyou (ITA), Alberto Barovier, Stefano Rizzi, Daniele De Luca, Simone de Mari = 135 points
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