(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) But with six different winners emerging in nine races the Oman Sail team settled for the sixth place in the 11-boat fleet by the end of the day's racing.
The other Oman Sail team in fray - The Wave Muscat - maintained a steady show throughout the day to finish fourth.
The towering masts of the ESS fleet dominated the Cardiff Bay skyline as the world's leading sailors took to the water under a bright sky and challenging winds. It was the home team J P Morgan BAR that took pole position with 70 points.
The Wave Muscat collected 58 points while Oman Air had 44 to remain in contention for the Cardiff-leg podium finish on Monday. SAP Extreme Sailing Team (62) is currently in second place followed by overall series leader Alinghi (61). Leigh McMillan The Wave Muscat skipper was satisfied with his crew's display on day one.
'We didn't set the world on fire but we were pretty consistent and had some solid results' he said. 'There is plenty to improve on but the important thing is we are in the running at the end of the first day so we are happy. We are doing a lot of things well but there are a couple of areas we can still improve on like the starts and our communication.'
The two Oman Sail teams managed to clinch four podium spots during the day's nine races with Oman Air skipper Rob Greenhalgh scoring a win in the opening race.
Hashim al Rashdi Oman Air's bowman said 'It's our first time here in Cardiff and we made a great start by winning the first race. In this strong fleet with some of the best sailors in the world sixth place is good so we are looking forward to the next few days and getting a good result here.'
Besides Rashdi Musab al Hadi is the other Omani on board Oman Air while Nasser al Mashari is an Omani crew member on board The Wave Muscat. Oman Air's latest crew member Ted Hackney of Australia was excited after the team's first-day show.
'We started with a bang. Then we were battling around mid-fleet. But it was pretty tough out there with lots of passing lanes so it was pretty exciting.'
Act 5 standings [after day one nine races]:
1 J P Morgan BAR (70 pts) 2 SAP Extreme Sailing Team (62) 3 Alinghi (61) 4 The Wave Muscat (58) 5 Realteam (56) 6 Oman Air (44) 7 Emirates Team New Zealand (37) 8 Red Bull Sailing Team (33) 9 Groupama Sailing Team (33) 10 Gazprom Team Russia (26) 11 GAC Pindar (21).
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