2011 Extreme Sailing Series

[mpowlison]

December 7, 2011

Final showdown begins in Singapore – Red Bull in pole position at the end of day 1

The final showdown of the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series™ has begun in Singapore under the gaze of the iconic Singapore Flyer, the world’s largest observation wheel, and the towering downtown city skyline. The Extreme Sailing Series Race Village nestles on the edge of the Formula 1 racetrack that has a permanent residence here in this impressively efficient city, and the 10 Extreme 40s were raring to go. The fleet includes the return of the Swiss Team TILT, headed up by Alex Schneiter, and a new team skippered by match racing supremo Sébastien Col on Team Extreme – the first club™ who faced the tougher and more experienced teams on the water today, all eager to commence battle on the opening day of Act 9 on Marina Bay.

It was Roman Hagara’s team on Red Bull Extreme Sailing who were on fire in the first two races before a thunderstorm with monsoon-like rain (think English downpour and multiply by 10!) and lightning saw racing momentarily suspended: “We had two really good positions in the first two races then we had to stop because of the thunderstorm,” said Hagara. “Afterwards it was a little bit cooler and it was better for us. We had some good starts and mark roundings and didn't make too many mistakes so a perfect day for us, we couldn't do better.” Hagara’s team have not graced the Extreme Sailing Series podium since finishing third in the opening round in Muscat, Oman in February and the podium is beckoning once again: “For sure, it would count a lot for us to be on the podium again. We had some really good races in Nice and were leading after two days but then we had some bad luck when Hans Peter fell off the boat in Nice, so we need some good luck here and, hopefully, this could be the one we win.”

Not surprisingly, it was a game of cat and mouse for Luna Rossa and Groupe Edmond de Rothschild who are locked in a battle for the overall championship: “We know that in this series anything can happen so we have to keep focused on ourselves and we know that Luna Rossa is going to chase us until the end so it’s up to us to stay in front or respond to the challenge so at the end we can be in front, that is our goal,” said trimmer Thierry Fouchier. After the five races today, Max Sirena’s Luna Rossa, driven by Britain’s Paul Campbell-James, is lying in 2nd place with 39 points, two points ahead of Groupe Edmond de Rothschild. “It’s no surprise that they are going to watch us and pay attention to us on every race for the next four days and it’s just up to us to stay calm and focused on our speed, on our tactics and not to get in trouble.”

Apart from the fierce thunderstorm, the breeze was pretty good although the shifts made the game a little bit harder with some teams suffering more than others: “We've had a pretty tough day, we didn't really read it too well,” said Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker. “Every time we ended up on the start line it seemed to be in the wrong place and you determine the first beat on the start, and we didn't read it as well as some of the other guys did today.” The crew haven’t raced together since Act 2 in Qingdao, China and Barker himself last competed at Act 7 in Nice and the competition has only got tougher in his absence: “It’s very tight courses and some very competitive boats,” said Barker. “There is no question as the season has gone on that every time I come back the fleet seems to have got better, so it’s really challenging.” The Kiwi team is lying in 4th place at the end of today, ahead of Oman Air skippered Chris Draper who takes the helm for the Singapore event, a highly skilled Extreme 40 helm who also skippered Oman Sail’s Masirah to victory in 2009.

Team GAC Pindar may be out of contention at the top of the overall rankings but Britain’s Ian Williams, recently crowned ISAF World Match Race Tour champion, remains upbeat: “It’s my first time racing here and we've got an interesting race course with three different shorelines to think about and obviously the weather is a major factor here,” said Williams. “Singapore is about an individual result for us and getting a good result that we can build on for next year.”

Tomorrow will see racing start at the usual time of 0600 GMT (1400 local time) with media guests on board as 5th men, ahead of the event opening to the general public on Friday through to Sunday.

Extreme Sailing Series Act 9 Final, Singapore standings after 5 races (7.12.11)
Position / Team / Points

1st Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher / Matt Adams / Craig Monk 45 points
2nd Luna Rossa (ITA), Max Sirena / Paul Campbell-James / Alister Richardson / Manuel Modena 39 points
3rd Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA), Pierre Pennec / Christophe Espagnon / Thierry Fouchier / Hervé Cunningham 37 points
4th Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Dean Barker / Glenn Ashby / James Dagg / Jeremy Lomas 29 points
5th Oman Air (OMA), Chris Draper / Kinley Fowler / David Carr / Nasser Al Mashari 27 points
6th Team GAC Pindar (GBR), Ian Williams / Mark Bulkeley / Andrew Walsh / Matt Cornwell 22 points
7th The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Leigh McMillan / Kyle Langford / Nick Hutton / Khamis Al Anbouri 22 points
8th Alinghi (SUI), Tanguy Cariou / Yann Guichard / Nils Frei / Yves Detrey 21 points
9th Team TILT (SUI), Alex Schneiter / Charles Favre / Arnaud Psarofaghis / Nicolas Heintz 18 points
10th Team Extreme - the first club™ (FRA), Sébastien Col / Jean-Christophe Mourniac / Franck Citeau / Christophe André 15 points

[mpowlison]

December 8, 2011

Pressure mounting in tricky conditions on Marina Bay



At the pre-race press conference on the second day of Act 9 in Singapore, Groupe Edmond de Rothschild skipper Pierre Pennec told the press: “We are extremely happy to be in contention for the overall title - it's going to be tight racing against Luna Rossa...” And the game of cat and mouse that started on the opening day, continued unabated on day 2. Paul Campbell-James, helmsman on Luna Rossa, was more emphatic stating: “We will make sure we beat them in as many races as possible!”.

The French and Italian teams are locked in a furious battle for the 2011 overall championship, and today the Italians’ game plan was on track giving Luna Rossa the advantage: “At the moment it’s working well but there are still too many races to go,” said Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena. “We are happy to be in front and we just have to do the same in the next three days. It was really hard today, really shifty and I'm really happy because normally in these conditions we struggle a little bit but today we managed to sail well.” But no one is underestimating the French team’s ability, as Pennec’s team has shown in the past with their backs against the wall, they can quickly rally and turn the tables on their adversary. Although the conditions today on Marina Bay were difficult for all the teams, Roman Hagara’s Red Bull Sailing Team has managed to retain the top spot on the Singapore leaderboard.

Tomorrow Act 9 of the Extreme Sailing Series reaches its halfway stage as the event opens to the public delivering more on-water action with Moth demo sailing and kids Optimist racing; then over the weekend the NeilPryde Racing Series will run alongside the Extreme 40 racing with 20 of Singapore’s top windsurfers, including the LED night Tron race.

Also tomorrow, WEBCAM will go live streaming the action from the race village and race course. The live stream will start at 0530-1000 GMT (1330-1800 local time in Singapore) and for those on a different time zone, you will still be able to watch the live coverage on YouTube when you’re up!

Red Bull Sailing Team’s tactician Hans Peter Steinacher, current leaders of Act 9, described the conditions today : “Today was really hard, the wind was changing all the time - down, up, down, up,” said. “Twice we started too early and one time we managed to get back to 6th but this happens. In the third race they said we were 20cms over - who can see 20cms?! Sometimes you have bad luck but you have to say ‘okay, we're still in touch with the leaders and at the moment we are still at the front’ but it is not easy!”

Only four races were staged on the second day of Act 9 as the local conditions tested the skills of the race management and the patience of the sailors: “Well, wind all over the place sums it up!” said Race Director, Phil Lawrence. “When we first went out there the breeze was just coming out of the thunderclouds and going round in circles so we had to wait before we could lay a course and get racing underway. We then had a good 6-8 knots of breeze out of the SE and managed to get some good races in. Then the thunderclouds really started to build again over the city and as the clouds got close the wind did a complete 360. We were going round and round trying to lay a course that would be fair for the guys. It was just that kind of day.”

Dean Barker though will be happier with Emirates Team New Zealand’s performance today, posting a win in the second race of the day, to leave them in 2nd place on the leaderboard and Swiss team Alinghi climbed two places up the rankings to end the day in 6th place. Oman Air also had a better than average day and newly-appointed skipper, Chris Draper, was pleased with their performance which puts them in fourth place: “Our goal today was to finish in the top five of every race which we did,” said Draper. “We proved to ourselves yesterday we could be in the mix and we just need to learn from each day, keep that momentum and it will come good.”

The new crew on the block on Team Extreme – the first club™ were happy to win the final race but as skipper Sébastien Col explained the team is very much on a learning mission: “In the last race we rounded the first mark in front, just in front of The Wave, Muscat and ETNZ, and we managed to hold on to the end. It’s all in the starts in this Series so we have to improve on that and be more consistent.”

Extreme Sailing Series Act 9 Final, Singapore standings after 9 races (8.12.11)
Position / Team / Points

1st Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher / Matt Adams / Craig Monk 64 points
2nd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Dean Barker / Glenn Ashby / James Dagg / Jeremy Lomas 62 points
3rd Luna Rossa (ITA), Max Sirena / Paul Campbell-James / Alister Richardson / Manuel Modena 61 points
4th Oman Air (OMA), Chris Draper / Kinley Fowler / David Carr / Nasser Al Mashari 55 points Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA),
5th Pierre Pennec / Christophe Espagnon / Thierry Fouchier / Hervé Cunningham 52 points
6th Alinghi (SUI), Tanguy Cariou / Yann Guichard / Nils Frei / Yves Detrey 51 points
7th The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Leigh McMillan / Kyle Langford / Nick Hutton / Khamis Al Anbouri 46 points
8th Team GAC Pindar (GBR), Ian Williams / Mark Bulkeley / Andrew Walsh / Matt Cornwell 43 points
9th Team Extreme - the first club™ (FRA), Sébastien Col / Jean-Christophe Mourniac / Franck Citeau / Christophe André 34 points
10th Team TILT (SUI), Alex Schneiter / Charles Favre / Arnaud Psarofaghis / Nicolas Heintz 27 points

[MLovett]

9/12/11

Battle intensifies at halfway stage of final Act in Singapore

At the halfway stage of Act 9 in Singapore, and the deciding round of the overall 2011 championship, the battle has intensified as witnessed in the drama-filled final race of the day. The French team of Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and the Italian team of Luna Rossa are pushing each other hard and backing down is not an option, sometimes a costly option as Luna Rossa found out in the last race today. Red Bull Sailing Team made a comeback in the final race, after losing the lead to Luna Rossa, for Roman Hagara’s team to stay at the top of the Singapore leaderboard for a third day in a row: “I think it’s the first time in the series that we are still top of the leaderboard after three days and it looks good for us now,” said double-Olympic medalist, Roman Hagara.

The conditions on Marina Bay were, once again, demanding – the wind unstable in both pressure and direction – and lightning-packed thunderstorms suspended racing again for a short while today. Regardless the racing was intense and five races produced five different winners today – Team TILT, Luna Rossa, Red Bull Sailing Team, Team GAC Pindar and The Wave, Muscat. However, it was the final race that produced the most drama…

Luna Rossa and Groupe Edmond de Rothschild were locked in their own private battle from start to finish. Max Sirena’s team looked to have the advantage but it all went horribly wrong at the final mark: “We were in second or third with Gitana and we were trying to give them a bit of grief,” explained helmsman Paul Campbell-James. “Basically, it backfired on us and we got a penalty and ended up finishing last.” Their extensive points lead over Groupe Edmond de Rothschild quickly vanishing as the French team went on to finish the race in 2nd putting them within 8 points of Luna Rossa in the Act 9 standings: “That’s the way it is sometimes and you’ve got to know when to back down,” said Campbell-James. “With a 20-point lead, it’s probably the time to be a little bit passive. But we’re not good at being passive, we like being aggressive all the time and that was our downfall today. We’ve had lots of incidences with Gitana this week already and usually we’re coming off better. It’s an absolute fight in every race but we’ve got to know when to back down which we didn’t do today.”

The Italian team may be playing it cool but it was an important psychological outcome for the French team skippered by Pierre Pennec with only two days of Act 9 remaining: “It was a great to finish the day on a high note and good for the team’s morale,” said Pennec. “We still have work to do and we must raise our game to be able to beat Luna Rossa and take this championship.”

Chris Draper and the crew on Oman Air were in the hunt for their first win in Singapore and looked to have the final race of the day in the bag. However, their glory was dashed as the on-water umpires handed out a penalty and four other teams passed them as the Omani team performed their penalty.

Mid-leaderboard another close battle is developing between Oman Air, The Wave Muscat, Alinghi and Team GAC Pindar – all strong contenders in their own right. Whilst Team Extreme – the first club™ and Team TILT are equal on 52 points and there are plenty of points still left to fight for over the remaining two days of Act 9 as Luna Rossa skipper, Max Sirena, philosophically stated: “There are many races to go still and anything can happen. Tomorrow is another day and I think until the last race we won’t know who is going to win the Series.”

After racing Dean Barker, Chris Draper and Roman Hagara spoke about how they began their yacht racing careers. The world class and Olympic sailors had a captive audience of around 80 spectators which also included some young sailing fans, all invited by Singapore Sailing Federation.

Extreme Sailing Series Act 9 Final, Singapore standings after 14 races (9.12.11)
Position / Team / Points

1st Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher / Matt Adams / Craig Monk 96 points
2nd Luna Rossa (ITA), Max Sirena / Paul Campbell-James / Alister Richardson / Manuel Modena 93 points
3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Dean Barker / Glenn Ashby / James Dagg / Jeremy Lomas 91 points
4th Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA), Pierre Pennec / Christophe Espagnon / Thierry Fouchier / Hervé Cunningham 85 points
5th Oman Air (OMA), Chris Draper / Kinley Fowler / David Carr / Nasser Al Mashari 80 points
6th The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Leigh McMillan / Kyle Langford / Nick Hutton / Khamis Al Anbouri 78 points
7th Alinghi (SUI), Tanguy Cariou / Yann Guichard / Nils Frei / Yves Detrey 75 points
8th Team GAC Pindar (GBR), Ian Williams / Mark Bulkeley / Andrew Walsh / Matt Cornwell 68 points
9th Team Extreme – the first club™ (FRA), Sébastien Col / Jean-Christophe Mourniac / Franck Citeau / Christophe André 52 points
10th Team TILT (SUI), Alex Schneiter / Charles Favre / Arnaud Psarofaghis / Nicolas Heintz 52 points

[MLovett]

10/12/11


All 2011 podium places still up for grabs going in to final day of 2011 Extreme Sailing Series


The 10 Extreme 40 teams racing in the final showdown in Singapore competed in 11 short, sharp but punishing races today as more breezy, but gusty conditions upped the tempo of the racing on the penultimate day. As the wind speed went into double digits for the first time during Act 9 on Marina Bay, and with the teams all pushing hard in the confines of the Extreme Stadium, the risk of very close passes increased. In the eighth race of the day, Red Bull Sailing Team, who had right of way, slammed into the back of Team GAC Pindar whilst trying to avoid the collision – and with enough force to throw bowman Craig Monk into the water.

The Italian team Luna Rossa, skippered by Max Sirena, look to be on an unstoppable roll – leading their French rivals Groupe Edmond de Rothschild by 56 points, a gap almost unseen this year between these teams after a consistent performance from the Italians and a string of disappointing scores for the French. On the final day tomorrow, two racing sessions are scheduled and, like today, a potential for 10 or more races, in other words 110 points or more up for grabs taking into account the final double points race, and everyone expects the French team to close the gap on their rivals. So whilst the odds are stacked in favour of Luna Rossa with their British helmsman Paul Campbell-James, pulling off the ultimate victory, it is far from over – in doing so Campbell-James would become the first helmsman to win the Extreme Sailing Series twice* in its 5 year history: “Today was perfect,” said Campbell-James. “We nailed the starts and we kept really safe. We had a dream day today but Gitana could do the same to us tomorrow, although they would have to have a dream day and we would have to have a bad day.” These two teams have shared a tense battle throughout 2011 and no one will write the final chapter until it is done and dusted.

Watch the ‘Head to Head’ video here

The NeilPryde Racing Series with 20 windsurfers from Asia and UK got off to a flying start today both during the day and in the dark, the competitors using LED night Tron sails for the first time. The waters were full this afternoon, also with foiling moths and an Optimist event that included kids from Russia, Finland and of course Singapore. Read the full report here

Roman Hagara’s Red Bull Sailing Team would desperately love to finish on the podium here at the final event – they were last on the podium at the first Act 11 months ago – first, they have to fix their Extreme 40: “The collision was a classic port-starboard and I tried to avoid Ian Williams but it was too late,” explained Hagara afterwards. “We got a gust and we hit him on the back beam so our bow is destroyed with water coming in, but we managed to fix it for the races later on and luckily when Craig went overboard he wasn’t hurt and that’s the most important thing.” However, the Austrian team will have to work late into the night to fix their bow, then have to fend off the challenge from a clutch of teams who are only separated by a few points. Oman Air put in a strong performance today to move into 3rd place, Emirates Team New Zealand in 4th, Alinghi 5th and The Wave, Muscat 6th. “It would be great to be able to finish on the podium at the final event,” said Oman Air skipper, and 2009 Extreme Sailing Series Champion, Chris Draper. “I think we can do that and we are going to trust our guts a little more as we probably have been thinking about it too hard.”

Similarly, another tense battle will come into play for the third place on the 2011 overall podium with Emirates Team New Zealand, the Swiss team of Alinghi and The Wave, Muscat only separated by 3 points.

The only certainty tomorrow is that either Luna Rossa or Groupe Edmond de Rothschild will win the 2011 Championship – the rest will unfold on the final day of the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series tomorrow.

GAC Pindar Awarded Three-Year Logistics Contract
GAC Pindar has been awarded a three-year contract from global sports marketing company OC ThirdPole to provide a complete logistics support package to the award-winning Extreme Sailing Series. As Official Logistics Supplier for the series, GAC Pindar is responsible for every aspect of logistics provision, including transportation of all of the Extreme 40 boats that participate in the global series between the multiple locations on the event calendar. GAC Pindar is also responsible for transporting the supporting infrastructure, which includes onshore facilities such as the Extreme Race Village, media centre, race support centre and VIP area.
Read the full story online here

*Paul Campbell-James won the 2010 series as skipper of The Wave, Muscat

Extreme Sailing Series Act 9 Final, Singapore standings after 25 races (9.12.11)
Position / Team / Points

1st Luna Rossa (ITA), Max Sirena / Paul Campbell-James / Alister Richardson / Manuel Modena 186 points
2nd Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher / Matt Adams / Craig Monk 151 points
3rd Oman Air (OMA), Chris Draper / Kinley Fowler / David Carr / Nasser Al Mashari 149 points
4th Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Dean Barker / Glenn Ashby / James Dagg / Jeremy Lomas 146 points
5th Alinghi (SUI), Tanguy Cariou / Yann Guichard / Nils Frei / Yves Detrey 141.5 points
6th The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Leigh McMillan / Kyle Langford / Nick Hutton / Khamis Al Anbouri 140 points
7th Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA), Pierre Pennec / Christophe Espagnon / Thierry Fouchier / Hervé Cunningham 128 points
8th Team GAC Pindar (GBR), Ian Williams / Mark Bulkeley / Andrew Walsh / Matt Cornwell 119 points
9th Team Extreme – the first club™ (FRA), Sébastien Col / Jean-Christophe Mourniac / Franck Citeau / Christophe André 108 points
10th Team TILT (SUI), Alex Schneiter / Charles Favre / Arnaud Psarofaghis / Nicolas Heintz 103 points

[MLovett]

11/12/11


Jubilant Luna Rossa crowned Extreme Sailing Series 2011 Champions after emphatic final Act win

The Italian team Luna Rossa has won the final Act of 2011 in emphatic style and crowned the Overall Champions of the Extreme Sailing Series™ 2011. Max Sirena, Paul Campbell-James, Alister Richardson and Manuel Modena, who have raced together on the Extreme 40 all season, hardly put a foot wrong over the 35 races here in Singapore. They went into the final day with a previously unheard of 56-point lead over their arch rivals for the 2011 title, the French team of Groupe Edmond de Rothschild. There was little Pierre Pennec’s team could do as Luna Rossa put in another strong performance and after 10 races today, Luna Rossa topped the Act 9 leaderboard with a 45-point margin over 2nd placed The Wave, Muscat. “I’m really happy! Now, finally!” said Sirena. “We close the season well and it wasn’t expected because we didn’t sail well in the last event. I don’t know what happened here but we sailed pretty well and started off the line always in the right position. Tactically and from a crew point of view we were sailing always at 100 per cent which is really good and I’m really proud of the guys. It’s great for our long-term future so we’re really, really happy.”

Despite 6 different Act winners during the year, coming into the final Act, only the French and Italian teams could win the overall title. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild took victory at the first Act in Muscat, Oman whilst Max Sirena’s team shone at Act 2 in Qingdao, China. And whilst Pennec’s men had a ‘home’ victory in Act 7 in Nice, France it was Luna Rossa who had a 1-point advantage over the French coming into the final round. After 11 months, 9 venues and 301 races, Luna Rossa finally got to lift the Extreme Sailing Series trophy. “We’re ecstatic right now,” said British helmsman Paul Campbell-James who has become the first helmsman to win the Extreme Sailing Series twice. “The goal for the week was to beat Gitana and we had a 56 point lead this morning and at lunchtime we had 59 point lead. I was doing the maths in my head and I knew that if we finished every race in the afternoon we would still beat them and we just had to stay out of trouble.”

In the end, it was the second place on the podium that turned out to be the most closely contested, coming down to the final double points race. Going into the final race Leigh McMillan and his crew on The Wave, Muscat were only 1 point ahead of Roman Hagara’s Red Bull Sailing Team – the Austrian team putting in a strong performance leading Act 9 for the first three days. The two teams went into match racing mode, rounding the first mark in third and fourth. Locked in their own battle they effectively raced each other down the fleet allowing the other teams to get through and finish ahead. This included Dean Barker’s Emirates Team New Zealand who finished the race in 2nd place as McMillan and Hagara ran out of time to finish within the time limit, scoring zero points. The Wave, Muscat and Emirates Team New Zealand were tied on equal points, the tie broken by The Wave, Muscat’s scoring more first places. “It was a pretty dramatic finish to the event for us after a couple of bad events,” said skipper Leigh McMillan. “So it’s great to be back on the podium and finish the season that way.”

But that result for Dean Barker’s crew in the final race also secured the Kiwi team third place on the overall 2011 podium ahead of The Wave, Muscat. “It’s been a very tough event with Luna Rossa showing the way on how to sail in these conditions and it’s been a very tight battle for the remaining set of podium positions,” said Barker. “We had a good start to the year, leading the circuit after four events and then we had mixed fortunes during the middle of the year. We knew coming here we could only get third which we’ve done.” Unfortunately for Roman Hagara’s team their hopes of finishing on the podium here in Singapore were over.

The fifth season of the Extreme Sailing Series™ comes to a close in Singapore after 301 races staged across the nine global venues spanning three continents that started in Muscat, Oman in February. This game-changing professional sailing circuit has attracted 287,000 on site spectators with its unique blend of ‘stadium’ short-course racing, including all the various disciplines and courses used already from fleet racing to match racing and straight line duels, whilst maintaining its high-level of competition which was borne out by producing 6 different winners from the nine events, all of which, bar one, were only decided in the final race on the final day.

Eleven top international teams competed in the circuit with many of the world’s best sailors on board, plus wildcard entries from Aberdeen Asset Management (Cowes) and Team TILT (Almeria/Singapore). 2011 saw a big step up of the public entertainment, with an extended mix of attractions on the public days that including the Olympic 49er class racing, Moth demo sailing, the NeilPryde Windsurfing Series and kids Oppie racing, all combined with on shore family-orientated entertainment from kids activities, dance and music took place within the Extreme Race Village. Alongside this event formula, stood the premium VIP facilities that is a vital part of the Extreme Sailing Series offering, that includes the unique guest sailing experience onboard the Extreme 40s. The 2011 series, despite light airs for final few Acts of the year, also goes down in history in delivering the most capsizes and crashes within a season with every Act being decided in the final moments of the final day.

The 2012 calendar of events will be announced on Tuesday, 13th December on the opening day of the World Yacht Racing Forum in Estoril.

2011 Key Stats:
9 Acts
3 continents
301 races
11 teams / 2 wildcards
6 different Act winners (see below)
287,000 spectators
5 capsizes
5 major crashes (and plenty of brushes!)
15 nationalities
42 TV broadcasters
Over 1 million YouTube views

Extreme Sailing Series Act 9 Final, Singapore standings after 35 races (11.12.11)
Position / Team / Points

1st Luna Rossa (ITA), Max Sirena / Paul Campbell-James / Alister Richardson / Manuel Modena 260 points
2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Leigh McMillan / Kyle Langford / Nick Hutton / Khamis Al Anbouri 215 points
3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Dean Barker / Glenn Ashby / James Dagg / Jeremy Lomas 215 points
4th Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher / Matt Adams / Craig Monk 214 points
5th Alinghi (SUI), Tanguy Cariou / Yann Guichard / Nils Frei / Yves Detrey 206.5
6th Oman Air (OMA), Chris Draper / Kinley Fowler / David Carr / Nasser Al Mashari 205 points
7th Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA), Pierre Pennec / Christophe Espagnon / Thierry Fouchier / Hervé Cunningham 179 points
8th Team GAC Pindar (GBR), Ian Williams / Mark Bulkeley / Andrew Walsh / Matt Cornwell 167 points
9th Team TILT (SUI), Alex Schneiter / Charles Favre / Arnaud Psarofaghis / Nicolas Heintz 156 points
10th Team Extreme – the first club™ (FRA), Sébastien Col / Jean-Christophe Mourniac / Franck Citeau / Christophe André 150 points

Extreme Sailing Series 2011
Overall 2011 Championship final result after 9 Acts
Position / Team / Points

1st Luna Rossa 80 points
2nd Groupe Edmond de Rothschild 73 points
3rd Emirates Team New Zealand 69 points
4th The Wave, Muscat 67 points
5th Alinghi 66 points
6th Red Bull Extreme Sailing 61 points
7th Oman Air 53 points
8th Artemis Racing 48 points
9th Team GAC Pindar 33 points
10th Team Extreme 22 points
11th Niceforyou 17 points

Extreme Sailing Series 2011
Overall 2011 Act Winners – Team/Skipper

Muscat, Oman : Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Pierre Pennec)
Qingdao, China : Luna Rossa (Max Sirena)
Istanbul, Turkey : Artemis Racing (Terry Hutchinson)
Boston, USA : Emirates Team New Zealand (Dean Barker)
Cowes, UK : The Wave, Muscat (Leigh McMillan)
Trapani, Italy : The Wave, Muscat (Leigh McMillan)
Nice, France : Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Pierre Pennec)
Almeria, Spain : Alinghi (Tanguy Cariou)
Singapore : Luna Rossa (Max Sirena)