(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) The two Oman Sail teams - The Wave Muscat (TWM) and Oman Air - slipped from their overnight positions to settle for the third and sixth places respectively at the end of the penultimate day's action in the third Act of the 2015 Extreme Sailing Series (ESS) in Qingdao China on Saturday.
An almost flawless performance by the Danish duo Jes Gram-Hansen and Rasmus Kostner which included three race wins has put SAP Extreme Sailing Team with 146 points on top of the leaderboard - staying a clear 23 points ahead of second-placed Gazprom Team Russia.
Sarah Ayton of The Wave Muscat in action on Saturday
On a day that saw a patchy seven-knot breeze blow across the racecourse the nine teams took to the water in the shadows of Qingdao's skyscrapers.
TWM which was placed second at the start of the day fell behind the Russian team to cling to the third spot with 117 points - staying ahead of Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team by a mere point.
Oman Air which began the day in fifth place had a modest outing slipping to sixth spot with 88 points.
Double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Ayton a key member of the Leigh McMillan-led TWM admitted that it was a frustrating day for her team. 'It was very tough. In the first half of the day our starts were not good. Then in the second half we were better with the starts but we were struggling for speed on the upwind legs. So we had quite a battle to get the boat around the course in the best shape' she said.
However Ayton was hopeful of a podium finish on the final day on Sunday. 'We need a good day tomorrow so that we can end the event on a high going into Act 4 in Cardiff Wales. We have a lot of races on Sunday and anything can happen.'
Nasser al Mashari Omani bowman on board TWM said "The wind today was tricky and tough which put pressure on us. We are hoping for a better performance tomorrow.'
Oman Air skipper Stevie Morrison was also unhappy with the day's result. 'It was disappointing for us today. The breeze was very light and tricky and we didn't seem to be able to get on the correct side of the wind shifts. Hopefully tomorrow we will see an improvement and move forward.'
The day's best display came from Team Turx powered by Kaya Ropes which took home a total of 65 points from a possible 80 in the eight races sailed.
With the forecast at China's Olympic sailing city predicting gusts up to 28 knots on the final day exciting action awaits the teams on Sunday.
Results after Day 3:
1 SAP Extreme Sailing Team (146 pts) 2 Gazprom Team Russia (123) 3 The Wave Muscat (117) 4 Red Bull Sailing Team (116) 5 Team Turx powered by Kaya Ropes (109) 6 Oman Air (88) 7 Team Extreme Qingdao (75) 8 Lino Sonego Team Italia (72) 9 GAC Pindar (70).
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