Olympic and America’s Cup legend Sir Ben Ainslie will be amongst the world’s best sailors who will descend on Cardiff Bay over the Bank Holiday weekend, August 22-25, as the spectacular Extreme Sailing Series™ and the fleet of high-performance Extreme 40 catamarans return to Wales for a third consecutive year.
For Sir Ben, who skippers the British entry J.P.Morgan BAR, his involvement in the UK leg of this world-class sailing competition is the latest stage in the career of the most successful sailor in Olympic history, having won medals at five successive Olympics from 1996 to 2012, and Gold at the last four including London, plus Ainslie’s Oracle Team USA triumphed dramatically in the 2013 America’s Cup in San Francisco Bay.
The Extreme Sailing Series has captured the imagination of the Welsh public in previous years, drawing thousands to the Race Village on the waterfront of Cardiff Bay to witness the adrenaline-fuelled race action. This August the 2014 competition forms the centrepiece of the Cardiff Harbour Festival over the Bank Holiday weekend, and is presented by Extreme Sailing Series Main Partner Land Rover.
Sir Ben said: “It is crazy racing. Anyone who has seen the Series – or taken part in it – will tell you that the style of the courses, the speed of the boats and the number of boats on any side of the course at one time, means there is a lot of action and a lot of potential for crashes and incidents. So it makes for exciting racing and you really have to be on your toes.”
Minister for the Economy, Science and Transport, Edwina Hart, said: “We look forward to welcoming Extreme Sailing back to Wales for a third year. The event has provided Cardiff with a global position alongside other premium venues such as Singapore, Istanbul, Nice and Boston and has given us the opportunity to promote Cardiff Bay internationally as a world class sailing and water sports venue and to promote Cardiff and Wales as an attractive and diverse visitor destination. We also look forward to welcoming the Volvo Ocean Race in 2018.”
Cardiff is Act 5 of the Extreme Sailing Series which takes in iconic locations across the world from St. Petersburg to Singapore and Sydney. The competition features 11 elite teams battling it out within good sight of spectators, and attracts some of the world’s best sailors.
Cardiff is popular with competitors as facilities are so close to the water, race conditions are challenging, and the proximity of spectators in a stadium set up gives the event a real buzz.
Reigning champion Leigh McMillan will return at the helm of The Wave, Muscat, this year with double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Ayton calling the tactics, and he will not be giving up his crown without a serious fight, in what could be a hat-trick year in 2014 for the British Olympian.
Event details at cardiff-festival.com
Extreme sailing information and film at extremesailingseries.com
