After a thrilling finale filled with suspense, it was finally SAP Extreme Sailing Team who took the Chinese victory. This is their first Act victory. The crew also won the Land Rover Above and Beyong Award for their performance in China. This is a great reward for the whole team, but also for the only Frenchman of the Extreme, Thierry Douillard.
The Danish team had taken the lead after the first two days of the race, despite a heavy fog. With a lead of 23 points in the ranking, the day before the last day. Yet, for the final, the team co-skippered by Jes Gram-Hansen and Rasmus Køstner, was destabilized. But thanks to the results of the previous two days âeuros 14 podiums and 5 wins âeuros SAP Extreme Sailing Team was able to win Act 3 of the Extreme Sailing Series.
"It's great for us to win our first Act. It's been a dream of ours for a long time and we've come close several times, but today it finally became a reality." jes Gram Hansen explained with emotion just before going on stage. "We are proud to represent our country and proud of this victory because we got a lot of support, not only from SAP, but also from family and friends in Denmark, which is just amazing."
"We arrived this morning with a nice lead, but also with very very complicated conditions here. The onshore winds were very unstable with big gusts. We didn't get the best start of the day, but we did a pretty good job of minimizing the damage and in the end we win this Act." confided the French Thierry Douillard.
The other two places on the podium were contested between The Wave, Muscat and Gazprom Team Russia. Unfortunately for the Russians, a penalty at the windward mark cost them the Act victory, but also the 2nd place e place of the podium. They finish on the 3 e walk. The Wave, Muscat gets the 2nd place e place, Red Bull Sailing Team the 4th e .
Act 4 will take place in the United Kingdom, in Cardiff, from June 18 to 21.
Final ranking of Act 3 in Qingdao, China
| 1 | SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) | 178 points |
| 2 | The Wave, Muscat (OMA) | 166 points |
| 3 | Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) | 162 points |
| 4 | Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) | 156 points |
| 5 | Team Turx powered by Kaya Ropes (TUR) | 137 points |
| 6 | Oman Air (OMA) | 115 points |
| 7 | GAC Pindar (GBR) | 109 points |
| 8 | Team Extreme Qingdao (CHN) | 104 points |
| 9 | Lino Sonego Team Italia (ITA) | 104 points |
2015 Extreme Sailing Series Provisional Overall Standings
| 1 | SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) | 28 points |
| 2 | The Wave, Muscat (OMA) | 27 points |
| 3 | Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) | 25 points |
| 4 | Gazprom Team Russia (RUS) | 18 points |
| 5 | Oman Air (OMA) | 18 points |
| 6 | Team Turx powered by Kaya Ropes (TUR) | 15 points |
| 7 | GAC Pindar (GBR) | 14 points |
| 8 | Lino Sonego Team Italia (ITA) | 11 points |
Credits: Mark Lloyd Images
