The Portuguese team Sail Portugal, which integrates the Algarve sailor Luís Brito, ended yesterday, Monday, the Qingdao (China) stage of the Extreme Sailing Series in the 5th final position.
The Portuguese team, captained by Diogo Cayolla, who came to finish in 2nd place the first day of regattas of this Stage 2, managed, even so, to demonstrate a good evolution in the race.
On the last day, the thick fog that invaded Fushon Bay led race director Phil Lawrence to cancel the last race, considering that there were no conditions of safety.
In statements to the website swell Algarve, the Algarve sailor Luís Brito considered that the 5th place in the stage was "a good result".
"Despite the lack of experience on this boat, the fact that we have a new element on board [João Matos Rosa] and some internal communication problems, which are normal at this stage, we finished in 5th place", added the sportsman from Portimão.
At this point, and after two steps, the sail Portugal occupies the 6th position among the eight teams that compete in the Extreme Sailing Series, composed of fast GC32 catamarans.
The Chinese stage was eventually won by Arnaud Psarofaghis Swiss Alinghi, who thus got the better of the Stage 1 winners, Morgan Larson's Oman Air team. Alinghi took advantage of the misfortunes of the Oman team, which had an irregular match, which resulted in a penalty, and suffered a breakdown.
In third place, in this stage 2, were the Australians from the Red Bull Sailing Team, by Roman Hagara.
Even so, the team from Oman maintains the command of the general classification, with two points more than the Swiss.
Stage 3 of the Extreme Sailing Series will be played again in European waters, in Cardiff (Wales, United Kingdom), between the 23rd and 26th of June.
For this 3rd shot, the objective of the Portuguese team is to «improve some aspects», but, above all, «improve the final result», concluded Luís Brito.
Final classification of Step 2 - Qingdao (China):
1st – Alinghi (SUI) Arnaud Psarofaghis, Nicolas Charbonnier, Timothé Lapauw, Nils Frei, Yves Detrey – 187 points
2nd – Oman Air (OMA) Morgan Larson, Pete Greenhalgh, James Wierzbowski, Ed Smyth, Nasser Al Mashari – 181 points
3rd – Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Stewart Dodson, Adam Piggott, Brad Farrand 166 points
4th – Land Rover BAR Academy (GBR) Bleddyn Môn, Leigh McMillan, Michael Barnes, Adam Kay, Neil Hunter 162 points
5th – Sail Portugal (POR) Diogo Cayolla, Bernardo Freitas, Javier de la Plaza, Luís Brito, João Matos Rosa – 156 points
6th – SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) Jes Gram-Hansen, Rasmus Køstner, Mads Emil Stephensen, Pierluigi De Felice, Renato Conde – 156 points
7th – One (CHN) Taylor Canfield, Chris Steele, Shane Diviney, Hayden Goodrick, Luke Payne, Liu Xue – 146 points
8th – Team Turx (TUR) Stevie Morrison, Tom Dawson, Tom Buggy, Martin Evans, Brad Funk – 138 points
Extreme Sailing Series Overall Rating (after 2 steps):
1st – Oman Air (OMA) 23 points
2nd – Alinghi (SUI) 21 points
3rd – Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 21 points
4th – Land Rover BAR Academy (GBR) 19 points
5th – SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 15 points
6th – Sail Portugal (POR) 13 points
7th - One (CHN) 13 points
8th – Team Turx (TUR) 11 points
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