(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) The Wave Muscat (TWM) is on course to claim a hat-trick of Act wins in the 2015 Extreme Sailing Series (ESS) after dominating the action on day three of Act 6 in St Petersburg Russia on Saturday and stretching its lead at the top.
Oman Air rose two places in the rankings to finish on No 4 on a bright day out for both the Oman Sail Extreme 40 crews.
Between them a total of ten podium places were achieved including two outright victories for Stevie Morrison's Oman Air and one for the crew on TWM. By the end of the penultimate day two-time ESS champion Leigh McMillan extended TWM's lead over second-placed Red Bull Sailing Team to 24 points which according to the skipper put the team in a good position to secure victory going into the final day.
McMillan said 'We have had a very good day. Our plan is to hold firm to the end to make it three victories in a row - following our wins in Cardiff Wales and Hamburg Germany. 'Everyone was in sync today working well together. On the last day we can take nothing for granted because the wind is expected to blow in a different direction which is bound to mix things up a bit.'
One of McMillan's key crewmember Sarah Ayton said the team was revelling in the conditions on the Neva river and enjoying the action. 'These results today reflect the really good teamwork on board. With Leigh and Pete [Greenhalgh] at the back and Nasser [al Mashari] on the bow it's been high-energy stuff' she said. Spirits were also high on board Oman Air which was lying in sixth place at the start of the day but rose two places by the close after scooping two wins in nine races and scoring two more podium places to boost its score.
'We had a good day's racing and for once our results reflected our performance' said skipper Morrison. 'Luck plays a part in this sort of racing and today a couple of gaps opened up that we were able to capitalise on so we kept chipping away.' Oman Air bowman Ali al Balushi making his debut in the ESS this year said 'There are 13 points between us and Lino Sonego in third but if we sail well and post some good performances we will be able to push for a podium place.'
Standings (after Day 3):
1 The Wave Muscat (185 pts) 2 Red Bull Sailing Team (161) 3 Lino Sonego Team Italia (160) 4 Oman Air (147) 5 SAP Extreme Sailing Team (145) 6 GAC Pindar (140) 7 Gazprom Team Russia (138) 8 Team Turx (117).
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