It came down, as it so often has this season, to the final race. Tense, exciting and, above all, important, this was perhaps the most satisfying of wins for Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi. Conditions on the Med had varied over the course of the four days of racing, with light winds at the start proving testing for all of the teams. However, from a relatively slow start, Alinghi rallied in incredible fashion, stringing together performance after performance to put themselves in contention as the competition neared to a close.
Heading into the final race – a double-pointer, of course – it was the team’s fellow countrymen, Realteam, who led the Act. To snatch victory, Alinghi had to finish a clear two places above their rivals. This they did, taking the spoils in front of the thousands of spectators. Given that this is the penultimate Act of the 2014 season, it was a vital win. With it, Alinghi have now extended their lead at the top of the Series leaderboard to eight points over The Wave, Muscat.
However, with 20 points up for the taking in the final Act in Sydney, it is certainly not all over. Indeed, their are five teams capable of a podium position. A jubilant Morgan Larson, Alinghi’s helmsman, summed it up after the prize giving:
“We were confident at the start of the year that we had a little bit of an edge, but now the rest of the field are showing some real force. I think now you are seeing the future. More than half the fleet have the ability to win an event, and that’s exactly what we’re going to see going into Sydney. That event is going to be worth double points, and if we go out with a bad performance and The Wave, Muscat or Emirates Team New Zealand come in with a strong one – we’re going to lose. So we’ve got to go out and try and get back on the podium.”
The very fact that competition is fierce and that it is getting harder and harder to win races is certainly cause for caution when it comes to Sydney. But it also means that this performance in France is all the more important. And all the more impressive…
Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 7 Nice standings after Day 4, 29 races (5.10.14):
Position / Team / Points
Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Anna Tunnicliffe, Pierre-Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 183 points
Realteam by Realstone (SUI) Jérôme Clerc, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Bruno Barbarin, Bryan Mettraux, Thierry Wasem 171 points
J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) Ben Ainslie, Nick Hutton, Paul Campbell-James, Bleddyn Mon, Matt Cornwell 161 points
Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter Steinacher, Mark Bulkeley, Thomas Cjakgak, Stewart Dodson 160 points
Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) Peter Burling, Glenn Ashby, Blair Tuke, Jeremy Lomas, Edwin Delaat 156 points
GAC Pindar (AUS) Nathan Wilmot, Seve Jarvin, Hugh Styles, Tyson Lamond, James Wierzbowski 146 points
SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Christian Kamp, Brad Farrand 145 points
8th The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler, Nasser Al Mashari 143 points
9th Groupama sailing team (FRA) Franck Cammas, Tanguy Cariou, Valentin Bellet, Arnaud Jarlegan, Devan Le Bihan 143 points
Oman Air (OMA) Rob Greenhalgh, Ted Hackney, Kyle Langford, Hashim Al Rashdi, Musab Al Hadi 138 points
Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Phil Robertson, Garth Ellingham, Pete Cumming, Aleksey Kulakov 133 points
Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 overall standings:
Position / Team / Points
Alinghi (SUI) 65 points
The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 57 points
Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 49 points
Realteam by Realstone (SUI) 45 points
J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) 37 points
Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 30 points
SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 28 points
Oman Air (OMA) 24 points
Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) 24 points
Groupama sailing team (FRA) 22 points
GAC Pindar (AUS) 11 points
