Alinghi climbs the ranks on second day of Extreme Sailing Series™ Cardiff

After a tough day on the water at the Extreme Sailing Series™ Cardiff yesterday, Swiss team Alinghi reclaimed their place on the podium today. They closed the second day of the Cardiff competition in second place, following top-three finishes in all but one of the day's races.

Back on winning form, the Swiss resumed their ongoing battle with their Danish counterparts. Chasing frontrunners SAP Extreme Sailing Team around the racecourse with impressive skill and determination, they outperformed the Danes in all but two of the races.

"We had a much better day today," said an enthusiastic Arnaud Psarofaghis, co-skipper and helm for the team. "Our spare crew, Bryan Mettraux, flew in from Switzerland to replace Nils Frei due to the minor injury he suffered yesterday. It's always so much easier to race with someone who knows the boat well. We're back on the podium and we're looking to re-take that top spot."

Alinghi have never before won in Cardiff, despite having raced in the Welsh capital five times previously.

Today marked a very different day on the water for SAP Extreme Sailing Team. Having owned the racecourse on Friday, the Danes fell off the pace in the lighter winds, leaving their rankings littered with disappointing results.

"There were a couple of times when things didn't go our way," explained the team's Kiwi helm, Adam Minoprio. "We misjudged the pressure and it cost us a lot of points. Combine that with the two bad starts we had, and we had very little chance of a podium finish in five out of eight races. Alinghi were so consistent today, which makes it worse, but we will just have to sail better tomorrow."

It was another strong day on the water for the Brits, who have consistently set the bar high throughout the Cardiff Act. Five podiums across eight races saw INEOS Rebels close the day in third place. Although a disappointing step down from yesterday's second place position, their skipper Will Alloway was unfazed by the result.

"The first races went really well but unfortunately we made some mistakes in the last few," he said. "A debrief tonight then back at it tomorrow, I'm sure we'll be a lot better then."

The conditions on the racecourse could not have been further from those of Friday. The rain and strong winds of day one gave way to glorious sunshine, as the crowds came out in force to line the shores of Cardiff Bay.

Spurred on by the shoreside support, local wildcard Team Wales battled it out with Team México throughout the day, determined to jump up the leaderboard and do their country proud. However, the team unfortunately required a crew change early on when their mainsail trimmer, Martin Evans, was taken ill.

"The crew change meant that we had to ease the new guy into it," said the team's foil trimmer, Welshman Gareth Fowler. "We improved a lot towards the end of the day though, we're pretty hopeful for tomorrow."

Over on the Flying Phantom racecourse, Series favourites Team France Jeune were put through the wringer once again when they suffered damage to their foil case in race 10.

Austrian challenger Red Bull Sailing Team currently leads the fleet, holding a 17-point advantage over French opponents Idreva Zephyr Foiling.

Challenging conditions are forecast for Sunday, with strong winds and torrential rain expected in the Bay. When asked about the forecast, an excited Phil Robertson – skipper for Oman Air – chirped:

"Chuck the reefs in, little jibs and let's go racing!"

The Extreme Sailing Series will be streamed LIVE from 14:00 BST/UTC+1 tomorrow, accompanied by expert commentary from Niall Myant-Best and Stevie Morrison.

The free-to-enter Fan Zone will be open to the public from 11:00 each day of the bank holiday weekend.

For more information on the Extreme Sailing Series, head to their website.

Extreme Sailing Series™ 2018 Cardiff standings after Day 2, 16 races (25.08.18)
Position / Team / Points

1st, SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Rasmus Køstner, Adam Minoprio, Julius Hallström, Hervé Cunningham, Richard Mason: 166 points

2nd, Alinghi (SUI) Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Timothé Lapauw, Bryan Mettraux, Yves Detrey: 162 pts

3rd, INEOS Rebels UK (GBR) Will Alloway, Leigh McMillan, Oli Greber, Adam Kay, Bleddyn Mon: 158 pts

4th, Oman Air (OMA) Phil Robertson, Pete Greenhalgh, James Wierzbowski, Stewart Dodson, Nasser Al Mashari: 154 pts

5th, Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Chris Taylor, Ed Powys, Neil Hunter, Dan Morris, Rhys Mara: 144 pts

6th, Team México (MEX) Erik Brockmann, Tom Buggy, Alex Higby, Tom Phipps, Danel Belausteguigoitia Fierro: 116 pts

7th, Team Wales (GBR) Adam Piggott, Alain Sign, Martin Evans, Gareth Fowler, Peter McCoy, Kyle Stoneham: 108 pts

Flying Phantom Series Cardiff standings after Day 2, 12 races (25.08.18)
Position / Team / Points

1st, Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Olivia Mackay, Micah Wilkinson: 232 pts

2nd, Idreva Zephyr Foiling (FRA) Charles Hainneville, Thibault Julien: 215 pts

3rd, Flying Frogs (FRA) Pierre Le Clainche, Arnaud Vasseur: 207 pts

4th, Culture Foil (FRA) Nicolas Ferellec, Théo Constance: 201 pts

5th, Team France Jeune (FRA) Solune Robert, Antoine Rucard: 196 pts

6th, Masterlan (CZE) David Krizek, Milan Harmacek: 181 pts

7th, EVO Visian ICL (GER) Raphael Neuhann, Elias Neuhann: 180 pts