Extreme 40s poised in Cowes

Racing gets underway tomorrow

The Extreme Sailing Series regatta in Cowes is ready to deliver… top pro sailing talent from 15 nations, 12 Extreme 40s and plenty of breeze – perfect for this adrenalin-fuelled stadium sailing circuit. Starting tomorrow at 1500 BST, Saturday 6 August, the Extreme 40s will, once again, be one of the headline acts of Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week. As Leigh McMillan, skipper of The Wave, Muscat explains: “I grew up on the Isle of Wight and Cowes is my home town so it is going to be really exciting to be there. Cowes Week always has some extreme conditions to offer with the tide and good breeze. It’s going to be absolutely epic!”

Cowes marks the halfway stage of the 2011 global circuit and this event could prove to be the most challenge since China. Alberto Barovier skipper of Niceforyou is expecting a tough week: “Seven days of racing is going to be physically hard work, especially in these kinds of conditions… There is always 15-20+ winds with gusts to 30. So it will be hard, really hard and we are not used to sailing in this kind of breeze since the second event in Qingdao.”

The Extreme Race Village at Egypt Point will open to the public at 1100 each morning. With music, plus food and drink available, a viewing grandstand, commentary team and a public bar, it is the ideal place to watch the Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week racing. “It is really good to be close to the crowd and sometimes you can hear them when they cheer for you, so it is really fantastic and especially here with so many people on the shore along where we sail. It’s perfect!” said Roman Hagara, skipper of Red Bull Extreme Sailing.

British Windsurf Champion, Guy Cribb, has challenged an Extreme 40 to a speed duel on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. And two 49er teams from Britain and Malta will be showcasing why this dinghy is one of the most popular Olympic classes.

Marinepool has now launched a brand new, dedicated Extreme Sailing Series Collection. Now available online and selected events. The brand new Extreme Sailing Series Collection comprises sailing gear, jackets, polos, shirts, t-shirts, swimshorts, caps and accessories and can be viewed here -www.extreme-sailing-series-store.com

Watch the video of Oman Air Trimmer David “Freddie” Carr who gives an up close and personal look around what it takes to be a Trimmer onboard an Extreme 40. “This is the amazing sailing…I can’t see why you’d want to do anything else!”

The crews gave their thoughts looking forwards to the regatta:

Pierre Pennec, Skipper of Groupe Edmond de Rothschild: “I really want to enjoy it… It’s a difficult racing area here, with a lot of current and a lot of wind forecast. It will be a long week so really physically demanding for the crews. It will be mentally challenging as well for us but I’m happy to sail again in Cowes . I did the event twice already but as trimmer so this time it should be easier for the arms but harder for the brain. It should be once again very intensive !"

Yann Guichard, helmsman of Alinghi: “I am a bit disappointed for the beginning of the year. This is the fifth event and the result is not what I hoped for. We had a big de-briefing after Boston and now I am confident for this event. We’ll change nothing onboard, but at the moment we are missing a lot of things, sometimes the starts, sometimes the mix onboard isn’t quite right, every time it isn’t perfect, so we have to work on that, but we are making some progress so we will see.”

Roland Gaebler, Skipper of Team Extreme: “This is the first time I have sailed here. I’ve been sailing for 30 years and I have missed this spot, one of the most famous sailing spots. We have a complete new team, so it is a big challenge to get it together. This is the first time I’m racing on an Extreme 40 with my wife. A new challenge for us! She’s doing the mainsheet and traveler and already she did it very well for us in the strong winds so I think everything goes fine. Looking to the future, we work very hard for the comeback of the multihull in the Olympic programme We are maybe one of the oldest and one of the most experienced and it is a dream we would like to do as a pair, for sure.”

Santi Lange, Skipper of Artemis: “We are new sailing together, so our expectation is to perform well. Our main competitors are ourselves, we want to perform at our highest level and I think we can and we should do it. We aren’t that used to sailing in front of the public. We have the medal races at the Olympics which are a bit similar to this, short course racing. It is nice for the sport [to have the public so close] and it looks like the direction the sport is going so we have to learn this type of racing. The America’s Cup is going in this direction, the Extreme Sailing Series has done it for a long time, the medal races in the Olympics as well, it looks like this is the new type of sailing and it looks to me that it is good for the sport.”