In the lead: 2 race victories on Day One in Asia

Two race victories, two second place finishes as well as one fourth place catapaulted double Olympic gold medal winner Roman Hagara comfortable into the lead in the interim results after Day One of the final regatta of the 2011 Extreme Sailing World Series in Singapore. Behind Red Bull Sailing (AUT, 45 points) were teams backed by millions, America's Cup syndicate Luna Rossa Prada (ITA/39 points) and Group Edmond de Rothschild (FRA/37 points).
 
SINGAPORE - 2/1/4/2/1 – Those were the stunning race results from the team Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher (both AUT), Craig Monk (NZL) and Matt Adams (UK) in the opening race of the season finale of the world's top sailing series. Even a one-hour interruption due to heavy rainfall and stormy weather failed to upset the Austrian big boat. "We gave the boat to the technicans for video analysis and got perfectly back into the race," said bowman Craig Monk (a two-time America's Cup winner).
 
Red Bull Sailing was able to cope with the changing conditions on the course -- directly in front of the start-finish line of Singapore's Formula One track -- better than their rivals. Skipper Roman Hagara was able to keep the upper hand repeatedly in in-fighting duels against Luna Rossa Prada -- the Italian team will be the challenger in the 2013 America's Cup -- and forced his direct rival into making a series of costly penalties. "Even though there were 10 boats out there, we kept ending up in a number of match-race situations," said tactician Steinacher. "Every inch counts in situations like that and we managed to have a bit of luck on our side today."
 
The keys to success were coming off the start quickly with an excellent manouever and maintaining a high top-speed during the course of the race, as skipper Roman Hagara explained: "We're sailing in Sinapore directly in front of the city's skyline. There are all kinds of wind changes and strong gusts that come out of nowhere. So that makes the start and the acceleration so important."
 
Interim results (after 5 races):
1. Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT),
2. Luna Rossa Prada (ITA),
3. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA),
4. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL),
5. Oman Air (Oman),
6. GAC Pindar (GBR),
7. The Wave Muscat (Oman),
8. Alinghi (SUI),
9. TILT (SUI),
10. The First Club (FRA)
 
Live webcast are available every day from 2 p.m. at  www.extremesailingseries.com <http://www.extremesailingseries.com/>
 
Pictures available for editorial use free of charge. Credit:* S. König / Chili Sports Communication