Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Oman Air take narrow lead

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MUSCAT: Concentration, determination and some overnight reflection saw Oman Air scale the heights of the Extreme Sailing Series Act 1 in Muscat at the half-way stage.


Following an uncertain opening, day two saw the Oman Air crew hit their stride and notch up a series of results that took them to the top of the leaderboard by the narrowest margin.


At the end of a day shortened to five races in a declining breeze, the Omani-flagged GC32 catamaran had posted 117 points, including a race win, with Red Bull Sailing Team and SAP Extreme Sailing Team snapping at their heels on 116 points.


And to further prove it’s hot at the top, long standing arch-rivals Alinghi were right in touch with 114 points in fourth place. The nine-strong fleet had exchanged the opening day’s coastal racing in Muttrah — set against a backdrop of Muscat’s sublimely rugged shore – for the high-intensity close quarter action of inshore Stadium Racing.


And the change in venue came along with a change of thinking aboard Oman Air, said veteran Extreme Sailing Series sailor Pete Greenhalgh.


“We analysed yesterday a lot and decided we didn’t give ourselves enough time out there to look at the race course and get the boat set up nicely,” the mainsail trimmer and tactician reflected.


“The race officers rattle these races off so you get very, very little time to reset and get calibrated. Added to that, yesterday we had some gear failure a couple of times so it took us a long time to get reset and get back on track.


“We learnt from those lessons, so today we got out there a bit earlier and got more prepared, got the boat set up better, and it seemed to pay off.


“We still made a couple of silly little mistakes — our starting strategy was a bit off a couple of times, and we made


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