The second day of Extreme Sailing Series Act 8 in Almeria, Spain, was a mixed affair of four open water races staged outside the port of Almeria and a stadium race inside the harbour which led to some dream starts and some nightmare endings. Ben Ainslie held on to the top spot.

The wind gods were initially kind bringing 6 knots of sea breeze, although this died away to 4 knots, and as the 11 boat Extreme 40 fleet started the final stadium race it blew its last breath as the sailors did their best to complete the short course. The good news is that more breeze is on its way for tomorrow and Saturday which will bring alive the stadium action for the Spanish public.


For the Swiss team Alinghi, skippered by Tanguy Cariou, the start of the second day went like a dream winning three races in a row that temporarily elevated them to fourth in the rankings, from 9th yesterday.
Ben Ainslie's team on Oman Air keep hold of the top spot after the five races today which is pretty impressive considering this is all pretty new for the three-time Olympic gold medalist


With three days remaining at Act 8 of the Extreme Sailing Series in Almeria and more breeze forecast, there is plenty of action to come.


The fourth programme of the 6-part Extreme Sailing Series TV series has been released and will first air on CNBC across Europe and Asia at 17h30 CET on Saturday, 15th October. Up to 20 broadcasters around the world are broadcasting the TV series this year including Eurosport, Channel 4 (UK), Sport+ (France), Bloomberg and TRT (Turkey). Transmissions dates for programme 4 are also available for Band Sports (Brazil), TVNZ (New Zealand) Canal+ (France), Nelonen (Finalnd) and TV2 (Denmark), visit the TV schedule page on the website for more details. Some broadcasters, like Channel 4 in the UK, are opting to show the 6-part programmes back to back and will broadcast the whole series towards the end of the year.
Standings after 9 races (13.10.11)


1. Oman Air (OMA), Ben Ainslie / Kinley Fowler / David Carr / Nasser Al Mashari, 72 points
2. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Adam Beashel / Ray Davies / Jeremy Lomas / Derek Seward, 69
3. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (FRA), Pierre Pennec / Christophe Espagnon / Thierry Fouchier / Herve Cunningham, 64
4. The Wave, Muscat (OMA), Leigh McMillan / Kyle Langford / Nick Hutton / Khamis Al Anbouri, 60
5. Team GAC Pindar (GBR), Ian Williams / Mischa Heemrskerk / Andrew Walsh / Brad Webb, 57
6. Luna Rossa (ITA), Max Sirena / Paul Campbell-James / Alister Richardson / Manuel Modena, 54
7. Alinghi (SUI), Tanguy Cariou / Yann Guichard / Nils Frei / Yves Detrey, 52
8. Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT), Roman Hagara / Hans Peter Steinacher / Matt Adams / Craig Monk, 48
9. Niceforyou (ITA), Alberto Barovier / Stefano Rizzi / Daniele De Luca / Simone de Mari, 41
10. Team Extreme (EUR), Roland Gaebler / Nahid Gaebler / Anton Paz / Tom Buggy, 40
11. Team TILT (SUI), Alex Schneiter / Boet Brinkgreve / Charles Favre / Nicolas Heintz, 32