(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman Air continued with its steady run to climb up and finish the second day on third spot in Act Seven of the 2017 Extreme Sailing Series (ESS) in San Diego, US, on Friday.
A stellar performance from SAP Extreme Sailing Team saw Alinghi's lead dwindle to just one point at the halfway stage with the Swiss team leading with 126 points.
Starting the second day in fourth place, the Phil Robertson-skippered Oman Air crew of Pete Greenhalgh, Nasser al Mashari, James Wierzbowski and Ed Smyth succeeded in overhauling four-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie at the helm of Land Rover BAR Academy to grab third spot and end the day with 109 points.
The world-class fleet took part in six spectacular races, treating the crowds to plenty of foiling action and hair-raising nosedives.
A solid four bullets, a second and a third from the Danish-flagged entry saw SAP Extreme Sailing Team climb a spot to second.
Despite being the only one of the top five that has not yet won a race, Oman Air climbed a spot to finish on the podium.
The Omani Sail entry, one of the season front-runners, came tantalisingly close to victory in race ten but was pipped to the post on the final leg by SAP Extreme Sailing Team.
'The racing is fantastic and that's why everybody loves to sail these boats,' said Greenhalgh, Oman Air's veteran mainsail trimmer and tactician.
'It is very competitive out there, but hopefully we can turn it on. We have got a plan and there will be some tweaks for tomorrow and the final day so we can put together the whole package,' he said.
Alinghi managed four podiums from the six races, including one win, which was enough for the Swiss syndicate to cling on to the overnight lead by a narrow margin.
Land Rover BAR Academy – helmed by Ainslie - struggled to break out of the bottom half of the fleet. One win was not enough for the Brits, who dropped two places to fourth, followed by Red Bull Sailing Team who climbed one spot to fifth.
Tragedy struck for NZ Extreme Sailing Team in the penultimate race when it snagged a buoy and went from the front of the pack to last.
The squad finished second-to-last ahead of Lupe Tortilla Demetrio, the second US wildcard.
Day two standings: 1 Alinghi (126 points), 2 SAP Extreme Sailing Team (125), 3 Oman Air (109), 4 Land Rover BAR Academy (107), 5 Red Bull Sailing Team (103), 6 Team Extreme San Diego (92), 7 NZ Extreme Sailing Team (87), 8 Lupe Tortilla Demetrio (70).
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