Photos from a furious day of racing in Saint Petersburg for Act IV of the 2014 Extreme Sailing Series. All photos copyright Lloyd Images

Ernesto Bertarelli’s team, Alinghi, bested the tough conditions on Day 1 of Act IV of the 2014 Extreme Sailing Series, which has come to Russia for the first time. It is a tight stadium racecourse – just 300 metres wide at its narrowest point – and it was made all the more exciting by massive wind shifts that the crews had to battle, as well as contending with a four-knot current that runs across the racecourse. Alinghi, helmed by Morgan Larson were, as the ESS put it themseleves, the “pictures of consistency”. The team were the average fastest boat downwind and the quickest off the startline. That consistency has led to a nine point lead after the end of the first day. In second place are the longtime rivals The Wave, Muscat. Day 2 and the rest of the weekend promise to be a lot of fun on this exciting course… After the day of racing, Alinghi helm Morgan Larson said: “We were pretty terrible yesterday in the practice, so today we came out with a little different attitude. We had decent starts, we tried to stay on the opposite side of the racetrack to the rest of the boats so that every time we split from the group we had cleaner air and finally, a little bit of luck went our way and things worked out for us. It’s a challenging venue and it’s going to keep being challenging throughout the week.”

Alinghi emerged victorious from Act 3 of the 2014 Extreme Sailing Series in Qingdao despite being victim of one of the biggest and most spectacular crashes in the Series’ eight-year history. The team had led the Act since race one and it was this relentless consistency – combined with a redress awarded by the international jury following the collision – that ultimately saw them secure the victory and move two points clear at the top of the Series leaderboard. Throughout the Act conditions had varied wildly, with light winds on the first day giving way to gusts of up to 32 knots on the second as the fleet moved into stadium racing mode. Speaking about Alinghi’s ability to master these variable and trying winds, acting skipper Morgan Larson said: “At times the boat that would come off the line last would go on to win races. That goes to show that today there was opportunity, whereas yesterday you needed to have a good start and the positioning needed to stay the same – with the shifty winds today it really created opportunity. Most of the time you have to be aggressive on these boats to do well, if you back off and be conservative that’s when trouble seems to happen. So balancing that today was really key and I think we did a good job – we positioned ourselves conservatively but we sailed the boat physically hard, and I think the results show.” The results did indeed show and Alinghi went into the final day looking to maintain their lead of ten points over the fleet. Ultimately they did so – finishing by the same margin ahead of fellow Swiss team Realstone – but that was perhaps not the main talking point of the day. In one of the final races of the day the unlucky Red Bull Sailing Team were caught by a huge gust that propelled them into Alinghi’s side in one of the biggest incidents of its kind in the history of the Series. As Morgan Larson explained afterwards: “We were lining up at the start, and approaching the line with ten seconds to go and most of the fleet was on port. Red Bull ducked behind us, the winds were shifty and up and down, there was too much of a puff and they couldn’t get the bear away and T-boned us – it happens. It’s great to have won, we had such a great regatta that it was bittersweet to end that way, but I think we earned it so it feels good. We’re just glad that no one was hurt and that the boat is repairable – it will take a week in a good boat yard, but it will be back and ready to race.” Even though Alinghi’s crew had to watch the final races from the dock, the team took the Act victory after a redress awarded by the international jury. So now, with the fleet looking towards Act 4 in Saint Petersburg, Alinghi have stolen a march on their rivals and, with the Series reaching the halfway stage, will be looking to cement their lead. Land Rover Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 3 Qingdao, for the ‘Double Star Mingren’ Cup standings after Day 4, 32 races: Position / Team / Points 1st Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Anna Tunnicliffe, Pierre-Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 178 points. 2nd Realteam by Realstone (SUI) Jérôme Clerc, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Denis Girardet, Bryan Mettraux, Thierry Wassem 168 points. 3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) Peter Burling, Glenn Ashby, Blair Tuke, Jeremy Lomas, Edwin Delaat 160 points. 4th The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler, Nasser Al Mashari 159 points. 5th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Paul Campbell-James, Alister Richardson, Pete Cumming, Aleksey Kulakov 140 points. 6th Oman Air (OMA) Rob Greenhalgh, Tom Johnson, Kyle Langford, Hashim Al Rashdi, Musab Al Hadi 133 points. 7th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) Ben Ainslie, Nick Hutton, Paul Goodison, Pippa Wilson, Matt Cornwell 129 points. 8th Groupama sailing team (FRA) Franck Cammas, Sophie de Turckheim, Tanguy Cariou, Thierry Fouchier, Devan Le Bihan 128 points. 9th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter Steinacher, Mark Bulkeley, Nick Blackman, Stewart Dodson 126 points. 10th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Peter Wibroe, Nicolai Sehested 125 points. 11th Team Extreme Qingdao (CHN) Mitch Booth, Zhang Yiran, Liu Xue, Nick Moloney, Freddie White 111 points. 12th GAC Pindar (AUS) David Gilmour, Troy Tindill, Ed Smyth, Sam Newton, Alexandra South 98 points. Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 overall standings: Position / Team / Points 1st Alinghi (SUI) 28 points 2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 26 points 3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 24 points 4th Realteam by Realstone (SUI) 22 points 5th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) 15 points 6th Groupama sailing team (FRA) 12 points 7th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 11 points 8th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) 10 points 9th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 9 points 10th Oman Air (OMA) 8 points 11th GAC Pindar (AUS) 3 points

It was four days of extremely competitive and tight racing, in conditions that ranged from light to strong winds, for Act II of Extreme Sailing Series 2014 in Muscat, Oman. Having led the fleet heading into the final day, Alinghi ended up finishing 3rd behind ‘home’ team The Wave, Muscat and Emirates Team New Zealand. The final result was perhaps harsh on Alinghi as the team were caught up in ‘traffic’ at critical times, though no one could doubt the skill with which the defending champions handled the tough course on the final day of racing. During the majority of the Act, Alinghi had handled  the light wind conditions wonderfully, particularly at the start line, and were leading heading into the final day. Then, however, conditions changed completely, with steady winds of 20 knots supplemented by gusts of 26. That meant that power and brute force became the order of the day, with teams hurtling to the windward mark before unfurling gennakers and powering downwind. For the crowds watching, it undoubtedly made for a great spectacle, but it also made for crowded and high-octane racing and Alinghi were unlucky to be caught-up on a number of occasions. Nonetheless, heading into the double-pointer final race, the team were very much still in the hunt, alongside three others: The Wave, Emirates Team New Zealand and SAP Extreme Sailing Team. Indeed, only four points separated the rivals and 20 were up for grabs. Unfortunately, it was not to be for Ernesto Bertarelli’s team, with a fourth place in the race putting pay to their hopes of replicating their victory in Act I. Speaking after the race, helmsman Morgan Larson said: “We should be pleased with the result in such a tough field but we were quite disappointed with how we sailed today. We need to do a better job staying out of the fray and we didn’t achieve that today and The Wave, Muscat did and you’ve got to hand it to them, they earned the win. It’s a long season ahead and if we can keep on the podium this year we’ll have a shot at the title at the end of the year, this will be our objective”. Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 Act 2, Muscat standings after Day 4, 29 races (22.03.14): Position / Team / Points 1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler, Nasser Al Mashari 188 points. 2nd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) Dean Barker, Glenn Ashby, James Dagg, Jeremy Lomas, Edwin Delaat 180 points. 3rd Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Anna Tunnicliffe, Pierre-Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 179 points. 4th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Peter Wibroe, Nicolai Sehested 176 points. 5th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Paul Campbell-James, Alister Richardson, Pete Cumming, Aleksey Kulakov 158 points. 6th Realteam by Realstone (SUI) Jérôme Clerc, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Bryan Mettraux, Thierry Wassem, Nils Palmieri 153 points. 7th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter Steinacher, Mark Bulkeley, Nick Blackman, Stewart Dodson 145 points. 8th Groupama sailing team (FRA) Franck Cammas, Sophie de Turckheim, Tanguy Cariou, Thierry Fouchier, Devan Le Bihan 144 points. 9th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) Ben Ainslie, Nick Hutton, Paul Goodison, Pippa Wilson, Matt Cornwell 137 points. 10th Oman Air (OMA) Rob Greenhalgh, Tom Johnson, Will Howden, Hashim Al Rashdi, Musab Al Hadi 123 points. 11th GAC Pindar (AUS) Seve Jarvin, Troy Tindill, Ed Smyth, Sam Newton, David Gilmour 94 points. Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 overall standings: Position / Team / Points 1st The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 19 points. 2nd Alinghi (SUI) 18 points. 3rd Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) 16 points. 4th Realteam by Realstone (SUI) 13 points. 5th Groupama sailing team (FRA) 9 points. 6th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 9 points. 7th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) 9 points. 8th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 8 points. 9th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) 6 points. 10th Oman Air (OMA) 3 points. 11th GAC Pindar (AUS) 2 points.

Follow all of the action in the second Act of 2014′s Extreme Sailing Series, live from Oman. Having won the opening Act in Singapore, Alinghi will be looking to cement its position at the top of the leaderboard. Racing is taking place from the 19th-22nd March, with live coverage available from Thursday 20th through to the conclusion of the racing.   Thursday 20th March: 1530-1700 local time / 1130-1300 GMT / 1230-1400 CET     Friday 21 March: 1530-1700 local time / 1130-1300 GMT / 1230-1400 CET     Saturday 22 March: 1530-1700 local time / 1130-1300 GMT / 1230-1400 CET      

What a perfect start to 2014. Not just a win in the opening Act of the ESS season, but one that was very much a statement of intent from Ernesto Bertarelli’s team. The model of consistency, Alinghi didn’t take their foot off the pedal all weekend. In front of thousands of fans, the teams – including several high profile newcomers – did battle in one of the most iconic sailing venues in the world, the Marina Bay stadium circuit providing some fascinating duels. The tight course made staying out of trouble all the more important and it was Alinghi who bested the course and their rivals. In a hugely promising and competitive display the team finished more than half of the weekend’s 29 races in the top three, a fact that meant they had already secured the Act before the final double-points race – a rare occurrence on the ESS circuit. Thus it was that – in the final race at least – the drama was to be found instead in the fight for second and third places. A penalty for Emirates Team New Zealand in the race ultimately cost the new challengers a place on the podium, with The Wave, Muscat and Realstone taking advantage to finish in second and third respectively – and this despite the latter having missed the penultimate day’s racing. Speaking after the victory, Pierre Yves Jorand gave his reasons for Alinghi’s dominating performance: “It was a combination of things – our starts were consistently powerful and on this tricky and shifty course Stu [Stuart Pollard] made some great calls on the tactics. Crucially we were pretty successful in terms of avoiding contact – not always easy on this course!” Morgan Larson, skipper in Singapore, said: “We couldn’t have dreamed for a better start. 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!” ESS™ 2014 Act 1, Singapore standings after Day 4, 29 races (23.02.14): Position / Team / Points 1st Alinghi (SUI) Morgan Larson, Stuart Pollard, Pierre-Yves Jorand, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey 217 points. 2nd The Wave, Muscat (OMA) Leigh McMillan, Sarah Ayton, Pete Greenhalgh, Kinley Fowler, Nasser Al Mashari 193 points. 3rd Realstone (SUI) Jérôme Clerc, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Bruno Barbarin, Thierry Wassem, Sebastien Stephant 178 points. 4th Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) Dean Barker, Glenn Ashby, James Dagg, Jeremy Lomas, Edwin Delaat 168 points. 5th Groupama sailing team (FRA) Franck Cammas, Sophie de Turckheim, Pierre Leclainche, Thierry Fouchier, Devan Le Bihan 160 points. 6th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter Steinacher, Mark Bulkeley, Nick Blackman, Haylee Outteridge 156 points. 7th J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) Ben Ainslie, Nick Hutton, Paul Goodison, Pippa Wilson, Matt Cornwell 152 points. 8th Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) Igor Lisovenko, Paul Campbell-James, Alister Richardson, Pete Cumming, Aleksey Kulakov 128 points. 9th Oman Air (OMA) Rob Greenhalgh, Tom Johnson, Will Howden, Hashim Al Rashdi, Musab Al Hadi 128 points. 10th SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Thierry Douillard, Peter Wibroe, Nicolai Sehested 126 points. 11th Team Aberdeen Singapore (SIN) Nick Moloney, Adam Beashel, Scott Glen Sydney, Tom Dawson, Justin Wong 82 points. 12th GAC Pindar (AUS) Seve Jarvin, Troy Tindill, Ed Smyth, Sam Newton, Alexandra South 59 points.

Follow all of the action in the opening Act of 2014’s Extreme Sailing Series, live from the world-famous Marina Bay in Singapore. Alinghi will be doing battle with old – and new – rivals within the confines of the ultimate city-centre stadium. Racing is taking place from the 20th -23rd of February and the live coverage will be available from Friday 21st through to the finale on Sunday. Friday February 21st: 1600-1730 local time / 0800-0930 GMT Saturday February 22nd: 1600-1730 local time / 0800-0930 GMT Sunday February 23rd: 1600-1730 local time / 0800-0930 GMT

The 2014 edition of the Extreme Sailing Series kicks off this weekend in Singapore and it is the most ambitious of the series to date. Having finished second last year – by the smallest of margins – Alinghi will be looking to go one better this year in a battle with old, and new, rivals. The Teams The fleet has grown for 2014, with eleven teams, including several newcomers, racing for the spoils. Perhaps the biggest news is that British Olympic hero Sir Ben Ainslie will be leading a team this year. Having competed for Oman Air in 2011, Sir Ben is this year fielding his own team – J.P. Morgan BAR. Talking about the ESS racing, he said: “I remember that it is crazy racing. Anyone who has seen the Series – or taken part in it – will tell you that the style of the courses, the speed of the boats and the number of boats on any side of the course at one time, means there is a lot of action and a lot of potential for crashes and incidents. So it makes for exciting racing and you really have to be on your toes.” Other teams not present last year include Emirates Team New Zealand – skippered by Dean Barker – Gazprom Team Russia, Groupama and Oman Air, the second team fielded from the Sultanate alongside reigning champions The Wave, Muscat. Alinghi, who will again be skippered by Ernesto Bertarelli, have opted for the same crew as that which came so close in 2014, including Morgan Larson as tactician. Speaking about the year of racing ahead, Ernesto said: “Finishing second last season, with the same number of points as the winner is a great motivation for the team to fight hard again in 2014! The Series’ combination of one-design boats, short racecourses and an improving selection of venues gives everyone – teams and sponsors – an exciting experience. 2014 is Alinghi’s fifth year and I look forward to the start of the sailing season”. Extreme Sailing Series™ 2014 Teams and skippers: Team / Skipper Alinghi (SUI) – Ernesto Bertarelli (SUI) Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) – Dean Barker (NZL) GAC Pindar (AUS) – Seve Jarvin (AUS) Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) – Igor Lisovenko (RUS) Groupama Team France (FRA) – Franck Cammas (FRA) J.P. Morgan BAR (GBR) – Ben Ainslie (GBR) Oman Air (OMA) – Rob Greenhalgh (GBR) Realteam (SUI) – Jérôme Clerc (SUI) Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) – Roman Hagara (AUT) SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) – Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN) / Rasmus Køstner (DEN) The Wave, Muscat (OMA) – Leigh McMillan (GBR) The Circuit This year is the first that Singapore has hosted the opening Act of the Series, where the teams will be jostling for position in the world-famous Marina Bay. In March they will do battle in Oman, before returning to China’s Olympic Sailing City in Qingdao, in May. The next venue is a brand new one, with the teams heading to Saint Petersburg in June. From there it’s back to Cardiff for stadium racing in August, before the catamarans race on the Bosphorus in Istanbul. The penultimate Act will be at a venue to be confirmed in the Mediterranean in October, while the deciding Act will take place in Sydney – the first time that the fleet has raced in the Southern Hemisphere. Extreme Sailing Series ™ 2014 Host Venues: Act 1: Singapore, 20-23 February Act 2: Muscat, Oman 19-22 March Act 3: Qingdao, China 1-4 May Act 4: Saint Petersburg, Russia 26-29 June Act 5: Cardiff, UK 22-25 August Act 6: Istanbul, Turkey 11-14 September Act 7: Mediterranean 2-5 October Act 8: Sydney, Australia 11-14 December

In a nail-biting finale to 2013’s Extreme Sailing Series Alinghi took a thrilling win in Act 8, In Florianopolis, Brazil. And Ernesto Bertarelli’s team’s stunning performance meant that they came within a hair’s breadth of taking the overall Series itself, finishing level on points at the top of the leaderboard with The Wave, Muscat. In the end, it was only Act Win Countback that denied Alinghi with what would have been a fitting end to a superlative season. Nonetheless, Alinghi have every reason to be delighted with their performance. Over the course of four days in Brazil the team and their rivals from Oman staged a private duel for the Series, going into match racing mode from the off, to the delight of the thousands of onlookers. Going into the final race – a double-pointer – it was The Wave who were leading the Act, but having got themselves in front Alinghi didn’t look back, securing second and the Act victory. Tantalisingly, The Wave crossed the finish line to secure enough points to justensure first place overall. Afterwards, The Wave’s skipper, Leigh McMillan, paid tribute to his rivals, saying: “We haven’t been able to shake Alinghi all year; they haven’t really put a foot wrong”. Indeed, with victory in Brazil Alinghi became the only team to finish on the podium at every Act during 2013 – a fitting testament to the team’s consistency. Morgan Larson, Alinghi’s helmsman, was equally fulsome in his praise for the team with whom he and his crew had just done battle: “It felt like from the very start of the season it would come right down to that last race and even after the first day of this event Leigh slipped ahead a little bit, and we knew we would have to fight and we could get it back! Leigh capitalised on some big wind shifts and he deserved his victory!” Going on to praise his crew, “This year has been an amazing team effort and I really enjoyed sailing with the Swiss team. The guys onboard really welcomed me in the team; I couldn’t dream of a better situation personally!” Highlight’s of 2013’s final Act here: [VIDEO::https://youtu.be/XF0bx-LII9Q::news] ESS 2013 Act 8, Florianopolis Position / Team / Points Alinghi (SUI) 219 points The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 215 points Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 208 points ChinaSpirit (CHN) 184 points Realteam (SUI) 164 points GAC Pindar (NZL) 159 points SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 122 points Team Brazil Mapfre (BRA) 61 points Extreme Sailing Series™ 2013 Overall Standings Position / Team / Points The Wave, Muscat (OMA) 74 points Alinghi (SUI) 74 points Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 61 points SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 51 points Realteam (SUI) 49 points GAC Pindar (NZL) 42 points Team X Invitational 34 points Team Korea (KOR) 16 points

Follow all of the action in the closing Act of 2013’s Extreme Sailing Series, live from Florianópolis in Brazil. With conditions looking good, it’s all set up for a fantastic finish, with five teams capable of a podium finish and Alinghi sitting pretty in second place, just two points behind the Series’ leaders. Racing will take place from the 14th-17th November, with live coverage available here from Friday through to the finale on Sunday: Friday 15th November: 1600-1700 BRST / 1800-1900 GMT [VIDEO::https://youtu.be/8WvhaGu02R0::news] Saturday 16th November: 1600-1700 BRST / 1800 – 1900 GMT [VIDEO::https://youtu.be/fmpOb48Mp54::news] Series Finale, Sunday 17th November: 1530-1630 BRST / 1730-1830 GMT [VIDEO::https://youtu.be/YQhvhPX11JY::news]