British INEOS Rebels UK finished day four with a foot on the podium for the first time this year. Image: Lloyd Images

Having led the fleet of super-speed, hydro-foiling GC32 catamarans on every single day of racing, Swiss team Alinghi secured another Act win in Cascais, Portugal, in the mid-season battle for the Extreme Sailing Series™ top spot.

Having entered the Cascais regatta tied on overall points with Danish SAP Extreme Sailing Team, the Swiss were pleased to break free and into the lead once again.

“It’s great to win here in Cascais,” said co-skipper and helm, Arnaud Psarofaghis. “We’ve sailed really well all week and didn’t really have any bad races. The team did a great job of flying around the racecourse. Overall, very happy.”

The Danes put up a good fight, finishing the Portuguese Act in second place. The team’s skipper, Rasmus Køstner commented on the battle that ensued on the water.

“It was a pretty intense day trying to fight it out with Alinghi,” he admitted. “They’re not making many mistakes at the moment so their win is well-deserved. We will continue the battle in Cardiff.”

They may not have taken the top spot, but SAP Extreme Sailing Team did clock the fastest speed ever recorded in the 12 year history of the Series. Making the most of Cascais’ big breeze and perfect foiling conditions, the Danish squad hit a top speed of 37.9 knots on the second day of the event, an insight provided by SAP. They were awarded the Zhik Speed Machine trophy for their achievement.

Although fans are used to seeing Oman Air on the Act podium, the Omani contingent fell off the pace in this week’s racing. A lack of consistency in their results across the Act saw them give up their third place spot on the event’s penultimate day, allowing British INEOS Rebels UK to finish day four with a foot on the podium for the first time this year.

“It’s a positive step forward to take third place here in Cascais,” said an enthusiastic Will Alloway, Skipper for the British squad. “The conditions out there today were really testing so this is a great result for us. Each Act we are improving but there’s still plenty of work to do. We’re now looking forward to heading home to the UK for the next event; we’re excited to race in front of home crowds in Cardiff.”

Oman Air did, however, manage to hold onto their third place position in the overall rankings.

For the Portuguese wildcard crew, Cascais has been a steep learning curve. Taking part in a programme devised to give local young sailors experience in the ultimate Stadium Racing championship, the boys on board Team Portugal were truly put through their paces over the last four days of racing. Skipper and mentor, Luís Brito, was full of respect for his crew.

“I’m so proud of these young Portuguese sailors,” he said. “Today was even tougher for us than the previous days, but we’re really pleased with the Team Portugal project and how we’ve faired in the Act. We hope to return next year to sail for our country once again.”

In the Flying Phantom Series, local crew UON Sailing Team took home the owner-driver trophy, finishing fourth overall.

“It was amazing to race here in Cascais,” said a pleased Helder Basilio, crew for the team. “We’ve had a great four days of sailing, with perfect conditions each afternoon. There has been a lot of local support on shore and we’ve achieved our goal of winning the Owner-Driver trophy, so we’re very happy.”

Idreva Zephyr Foiling broke Team France Jeune’s string of Act wins, as the teams finished first and second respectively. Culture Foil rounds up the podium in third. The next event in Cardiff will be the deciding Act for the Flying Phantom Series.

Having worked towards ensuring Act 4, Cascais was as sustainable as possible, the Extreme Sailing Series achieved recognition in the Sailors for the Sea ‘Clean Regattas’ awards system, securing the Gold Award for the event.

A global tour, the Series next heads to Cardiff, UK, from 24 – 27 August, before heading further afield to San Diego, USA, and Los Cabos, Mexico. With only three Acts left this year for the GC32 sailors, the pressure mounts and the competition gets fierce. The Extreme Sailing Series trophy is within reach.

Extreme Sailing Series™ 2018 Act 4, Cascais standings after Day 4, 28 races (08.07.18)
Position / Team / Points

1st, Alinghi (SUI) Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Timothé Lapauw, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey: 309 points

2nd, SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Rasmus Køstner, Adam Minoprio, Julius Hallström, Pierluigi de Felice, Richard Mason: 294 pts

3rd, INEOS Rebels UK (GBR) Will Alloway, Leigh McMillan, Oli Greber, Adam Kay, Mark Spearman: 288 pts

4th, Oman Air (OMA) Phil Robertson, Pete Greenhalgh, James Wierzbowski, Stewart Dodson, Nasser Al Mashari: 282 pts

5th, Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Ed Powys, Neil Hunter, Dan Morris, Rhys Mara: 250 pts

6th, Team México (MEX) Erik Brockmann, Tom Buggy, Alex Higby, Tom Phipps, Danel Belausteguigoitia Fierro: 222 pts

7th, Team Portugal (POR) Luís Brito, Henrique Brites, Adam Piggott, Bernardo Loureiro, João Assoreira: 182 pts

Extreme Sailing Series™ 2018 overall standings
Position / Team / Points

1st, Alinghi (SUI) 45 points

2nd, SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 44 pts

3rd, Oman Air (OMA) 41 pts

4th, INEOS Rebels UK (GBR) 37 pts

5th, Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 33 pts

6th, Team México (MEX) 27 pts

7th, NZ Extreme Sailing Team (NZL) 7 pts

Flying Phantom Series Act 4, Cascais standings after Day 4, 22 races (08.07.18)
Position / Team / Points

1st, Idreva Zephyr Foiling (FRA) Charles Hainneville, Thibault Julien: 438 pts

2nd, Team France Jeune (FRA) Morgan Lagravière, Manon Audinet: 430 pts

3rd, Culture Foil (FRA) Nicolas Ferellec, Théo Constance: 397 pts

4th, UON (POR) José Caldeira, Helder Basilio: 393 pts

5th, Masterlan (CZE) David Krizek, Milan Harmacek: 365 pts

6th, Flying Frogs (FRA) Kim Ann Le Formal, Arnaud Vasseur: 354 pts

7th, EVO Visian ICL (GER) Raphael Neuhann, Elias Neuhann: 353 pts

Flying Phantom Series 2018 overall standings
Position / Team / Points

1st Team France Jeune (FRA) 79 points

2nd Idreva Zephyr Foiling (FRA) 76 pts

3rd Culture Foil (FRA) 71 pts

4th UON (POR) 62 pts

5th Flying Frogs (FRA) 59 pts

6th Masterlan (CZE) 55 pts

7th EVO Visian ICL (GER) 42 pts

8th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 36 pts

9th Team France Jeune 2 (FRA) 17 pts

10th Pegasius Project (FRA) 16 pts

11th Team France Jeune 3 (FRA) 14 pts

12th Surikat Coordination (FRA) 11 pts

13th Cup Legend (FRA) 10 pts

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