Wildcard German team announced

Star European champion Johannes Polgar to compete at the Extreme Sailing Series in Kiel this week

Audi Sailing Team Germany has announced today its wildcard entry to the Extreme Sailing Series at Kiel, bringing the number of state of the art Extreme 40s on the start line this Thursday, 26 August, to nine. Skippered by European Star Class Champion, Johannes Polgar, the entry will be crewed by sailors from a variety of multi and monohull disciplines.

The Audi Sailing Team Germany debuted in June 2010, at Kieler Woche, just down the coast from where the Extreme Sailing Series will be held. Bringing together the very best sailors from across the Olympic sailing disciplines, Paralympics and youth squads, the Team is preparing for the 2012 Olympic Games in London – a setup very much modeled on the successful formula applied by Britain’s successful Olympic team.

As part of their commitment to sailing, Audi Sailing Team Germany will enter key events on the international, professional sailing calendar. Team Manager, Oliver Schwall (GER) explained, “It’s the opportunity for our national team to be seen by a new audience out watching the Extreme Sailing Series™. It will be interesting to see how the mixed team coming from the Star Class, 49ers and Paralympics perform against other professional teams who have tons of experience. It will be interesting to watch!”

Johannes Polgar will helm the Audi Sailing Team Germany Extreme 40 joined by his Star class crew and America’s Cup veteran Markus Koy, 49er sailor Lorenz Huber, Star Class sailor Timo Jacobs and Paralympics Gold Medallist (Sydney) and seven times World Champion Heiko Kroeger.

Schwall was pragmatic about their aspirations for the four days of racing: “We have ambitions like everyone. If you play a soccer game, or before a sailing World Championship at any level, everyone wants to win. If you start the race, you want to win the race. That is what everyone wants. We have to be realistic, we have had no practice, are a mixed team of mono and multihull sailors so we are the underdogs. But we are there to learn, to have fun, show our VIP guests how spectacular sailing is and to show the public the different areas that a team like ours can race in. We can’t wait to get started.”

The Extreme Sailing Series Kiel starts on Thursday 26 August with a press conference at 1.30, followed by racing each and every afternoon from 2pm with the public village opening up from Friday 27th. With strong winds forecasted for the weekend, live commentary, Moth demonstrations and crowds in their thousands anticipated, Kiel once again promises to be a spectacular stop in the Extreme Sailing Series calendar.