Big wind gusts blasted across the race course on the final day of the Extreme Sailing Series Qingdao regatta. As technical clothing supplier to Emirates Team New Zealand the team wear Gill Race Collection. Given that the crews were having a real tough time as the city lived up to its reputation as a tricky, unpredictable race course the high performance nature of the Race Collection proved to be the perfect fit. With rapid and frequent wind shifts (from 90 to 180 deg not uncommon) the stage was set for another day of mayhem on the water. The almost inevitable big crash occurred when Red Bull Sailing Team hit the series leader Alinghi as it was lining up at the start. That was an early end to Alinghi’s regatta. Emirates Team New Zealand finished the regatta third overall – and retained third place in the 2014 Extreme Sailing Series championship . It was a great result for the team. It was Peter Burling and Blair Tuke’s first regatta in team colours and they had never sailed before with Glenn Ashby, Jeremy Lomas and Edwin Delaat. Burling and Tuke’s previous Extreme Sailing Series was more than a year ago and they made a fast transition from their 49er Olympic campaign. They were happy to achieve a podium finish for the team. The next act is at St Petersburg, Russia, starting June 26. Burling will again be at the helm