Red Bull celebrates podium in front of 30,000 fans

Red Bull Extreme Sailing clinched second spot on the final day of the Multihull World Series (ESS) in front of a 30,000 crowd with the day’s results of 2/4/6/1/1/6/2/1 capped by a final day race victory.

Two-time Olympic gold medallists Roman Hagara/Hans Peter Steinacher and their crew sailed to a total of eight race wins and nine podium spots and into their third podium spot in four acts.

Winds of up to 20 knots set the stage for extreme conditions on the Douro river and the thousands of fans witnessed a collision between Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and The Wave Muscat on the fourth race of the day in what Roman Hagara called a brutal crash. „It was a brutal crash. It could have ended badly. Rothschild had to pull out,” said the Red Bull skipper with a shake of the head.

His own team, however, managed to steer clear of crashes and penalties throughout the four-day competition. „At the end of the day it seems that those three early starts on the first day may have cost us victory. We settled in extremely well and each maneuvre worked perfectly. Our team spirit is good and we are hungry for success“, said tactician Hans Peter Steinacher.

The Wave Muscat (Oman) won the event, adding a third title after also winning in China and Turkey, on a day when more than 30.000 fans flooded the banks of the Douro, creating a breath-taking atmosphere. „You could compare this to a football stadium“, said trimmer Matt Adams (UK), who completes the team alongside Graeme Spence (AUS) and Pierre Le Clainche (FRA).

In the overall standings of the world’s best-staffed sailing series, Red Bull (16 Points) is in second place behind The Wave (19 Points). Cardiff (Wales) will play host to the next regatta at the end of August