TWO extreme sailors joined the catamaran for Act 6 of the Extreme Sailing Series.

Elliot Hanson and Neil Hunter, both from Weymouth, helped the team to secure two podium finishes in the races.

The event was held in the Madeira Islands and saw the Land Rover BAR Academy team finish sixth overall.

For Hanson, it was his second act of the season and a fantastic opportunity to develop skills.

He said: “This was quite a good event for us from a learning point of view.

“The conditions weren’t what we’ve been training or racing in so as a squad, we’ve come on a lot.

“We’re now looking forward to racing in Lisbon where hopefully we can put those skills to the test.

“I think we’re quicker in a range of conditions now whereas when we started the event, we were better in some wind conditions and not so good in others.”

Agreeing with his team-mate, Hunter described the conditions as testing.

He said: “It was a bit of a tricky event for us, to be honest, we weren’t as quick as we’d have liked.

“I don’t think we’ve done as much sailing in those conditions as we have in the breezier stuff so that was a bit of a weakness.

“On the positive side, we were starting really well and with the first mark positions, we were always right up there.

“Generally we were just making one mistake per race that was costing us dearly.

“So there are some serious positives in there for sure.

“We’re just looking forward to Lisbon moving forwards, hopefully we can pull out a better result there.”

Act 7 began yesterday in Lisbon where Hanson has taken the role of helm and Hunter will continue the role of skipper and bowman.