Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 6, Cardiff press conference: What the sailors said

As the international fleet prepares to head out to play on Cardiff Bay this afternoon, for the Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 6 opener, find out what the world-class sailors said at the official press conference this morning.

Friday 25th August 2017

As the international fleet prepares to head out to play on Cardiff Bay this afternoon, for the Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 6 opener, find out what the world-class sailors said at the official press conference this morning.

Stevie Morrison, Team Extreme Wales (GBR), two-time British Olympian who sailed in the 2015 Series in Cardiff: “I think what’s so unique about the Extreme Sailing Series is that you can bring sailing in these crazy fast boats [GC32 catamarans] right to the public and nowhere really does it better than Cardiff. When we were here in 2015 there was a cracking breeze. The last 2 days we’ve had some fast foiling fun around here. Unfortunately, today we have ‘dim gwynt o gwbl’ – which means ‘no wind at all’ in Welsh - but we’re hoping it will come in so that we can put on a good show in front of the crowds.”

Arnaud Psarofaghis, Alinghi (SUI), whose team took an early lead this season but has had less success in the last two Acts: “We were leading at an early stage this season and now we are back to third. I think we can still win the season and that was the plan from the beginning. We were in this situation last season and we still got the win so we’re hoping to do that again.”

Rob Bunce, Land Rover BAR Academy (GBR), skipper of the British-flagged squad: “I’d like to think that being on home waters in a stadium style race gives us an edge. Last time in Cardiff we had an amazing crowd here and I think we’ll really draw on that as we get more wind and it gets exciting out there, and hopefully we’ll get some great cheers.”

Josh Junior, NZ Extreme Sailing Team (NZL), who competed in the Series for the first time in Hamburg: “For me the whole of the last year has been a complete whirlwind. I started with the Olympics, probably a year ago today, and spent the last six months cycling on a bike on a 50ft foiling boat. Now I’m here in Cardiff on a foiling boat. I was at the last event in Hamburg on mainsheet and now I’ve been given the opportunity to helm and I’m slowly learning. We almost capsized a few times yesterday but we’re really enjoying it and the guys are really excited. They’ve done a good job getting the boat ready and we’re looking forward to some great racing.”

Phil Robertson, Oman Air (OMA), who has helmed his team to victory in the previous two Acts meaning they lead the season standings going in to Act 6: “I definitely don’t take winning for granted, especially when I look around at the guys I’m racing against. The fleet is extremely competitive this year and every team up here has got a shot at winning this event. It’s going to be difficult today. The boys are pretty hungry to get another one under our belt. We’re pretty excited to go and I guess everyone else is also hoping for a bit more breeze than what we have out there right now.”

Roman Hagara, Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT), whose team has had two good results in the previous two Acts but still have some work to do to catch the leaders: “I definitely intend to finish the season on the podium, that’s what we’re here for. We’ve had some really great results in the last two Acts. We’re trying to beat the other guys here in Cardiff and hopefully finish on the podium again.”

Adam Minoprio, SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN), whose team is tied on points with first placed Oman Air: “I wish I could control how tight the racing is but it just comes down to doing the best you can in every race. If you try and focus on one boat too much you’ll end up losing to the whole fleet. There’s not much you can to apart from trying to go out there and win every race and when it comes down to the final double points race, if you’re close enough, you can have a go at the other boat. But so far it’s all just been enough to stay clean.”