Morgan Larson returns to Extreme Sailing Series

Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 7, San Diego will see the return of former Series champion Morgan Larson.

The Californian will skipper Team Extreme San Diego, the second US wildcard to be announced following the entry of Lupe Tortilla Demetrio, in the penultimate stage of the season on October 19 to 22.

Larson, who narrowly missed out on 2016 victory as skipper and helm of Oman Air, has a history of success in the ultimate Stadium Racing championship. The Santa Cruz born sailor helmed Alinghi to victory in 2014, and he is looking forward to giving it another shot.

“After a year away from the Extreme Sailing Series I am excited to cut my teeth again on the flying GC32. The format of the racing, the competition and the speed of the foiling cats is infectious and I’m confident San Diego will deliver as a great venue for the Series,” said Larson, who comes fresh from competing on board Argo in the GC32 Racing Tour in Calvi.

“I’m looking forward to representing my state and country; competing on your home court is always great,” he added.

Larson’s stellar all-American crew line-up includes three of Oracle Team USA’s America’s Cup sailors: Andrew Campbell, Cooper Dressler, and Matt Cassidy who will take the positions of mainsail trimmer, floater and headsail trimmer respectively.

Trimming the foils is Mike Kuschner, who was part of Argo’s winning crew in the GC32 Racing Tour’s Villasimius Cup in Sardinia earlier this year.

“We have a complete Californian squad from our shore team to our sailing team; three of us are San Diego natives. We may be a late entry this season but the calibre of guys on our team is second to none,” commented Larson.

Team Extreme San Diego, which is supported by the Port of San Diego, the San Diego Tourism Authority and its Marketing District, will go up against fellow US wildcard squad Lupe Tortilla Demetrio. With two fully American crews, US sailors will make up the majority of the line-up when the fleet hits the waters of San Diego Bay in three days’ time.

The eight teams, representing seven nations, will race the GC32s just metres from the shore of San Diego’s Harbor Island. The free-to-enter public Race Village, which offers a prime viewing spot for the sailing, along with plenty of free on-shore entertainment, will be open from 10:00 local time (UTC-7) daily and is located at Harbor Island Park.

Event details – Scoreboard – Live blog – Facebook – YouTube

Crew line-up for 2017 Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 7, San Diego, USA

Alinghi (SUI)
Co-skipper/helm: Arnaud Psarofaghis (SUI)
Tactician/mainsail trimmer: Nicolas Charbonnier (FRA)
Headsail trimmer: Nils Frei (SUI)
Bowman: Yves Detrey (SUI)
Floater/foil trimmer: Timothé Lapauw (FRA)

Land Rover BAR Academy (GBR)
Skipper/bowman: Rob Bunce (GBR)
Helm: Ben Ainslie (GBR)
Support helm: Owen Bowerman (GBR)
Mainsail trimmer: Elliot Hanson (GBR) / Will Alloway (GBR)
Headsail trimmer: Oli Greber (GBR)
Headsail trimmer/floater: Adam Kay (GBR)

Lupe Tortilla Demetrio (USA)
Skipper/helm: John Tomko (USA)
Crew: Jonathan Atwood (USA)
Crew: Matthew Whitehead (USA)
Crew: Tripp Burd (USA)
Crew: Trevor Burd (USA)

NZ Extreme Sailing Team (NZL)
Skipper/mainsail trimmer: Graeme Sutherland (NZL)
Helm: Josh Junior (NZL)
Headsail trimmer: Harry Hull (NZL)
Foil trimmer: Josh Salthouse (NZL)
Bowman: Andy Maloney (NZL)

Oman Air (OMA)
Skipper/helm: Phil Robertson (NZL)
Mainsail trimmer: Pete Greenhalgh (GBR)
Headsail trimmer: Ed Smyth (NZL/AUS)
Bowman: James Wierzbowski (AUS)
Bowman: Nasser Al Mashari (OMA)

Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT)
Skipper/helm: Roman Hagara (AUT)
Tactician: Hans Peter Steinacher (AUT)
Mainsail trimmer: Stewart Dodson (NZL)
Headsail trimmer: Adam Piggott (GBR)
Bowman: Will Tiller (NZL)

SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN)
Co-skipper/coach: Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN)
Co-skipper/tactician/mainsail trimmer: Rasmus Køstner (DEN)
Helm: Adam Minoprio (NZL)
Headsail trimmer: Pierluigi de Felice (ITA)
Bowman: Richard Mason (GBR)
Trim assist/grinder: Mads Emil Stephensen (DEN)

Team Extreme San Diego (USA)
Skipper/helmsman: Morgan Larson (USA)
Mainsail trimmer: Andrew Campbell (USA)
Headsail trimmer: Matt Cassidy (USA)
Foil trimmer: Mike Kuschner (USA)
Floater: Cooper Dressler (USA)
Reserve: Riley Gibbs (USA)
Shore crew: Brian Janney (USA)

2017 Extreme Sailing Series™ overall standings
1st SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 66 pts
2nd Oman Air (OMA) 64 points
3rd Alinghi (SUI) 61 pts
4th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 56 pts
5th NZ Extreme Sailing Team (NZL) 48 pts
6th Land Rover BAR Academy (GBR) 47 pts

2017 Extreme San Diego Kiteboard Invitational line-up
Oliver Bridge (GBR)
Kai Calder (USA)
Will Cyr (USA)
Riley Gibbs (USA)
Florian Gruber (GER)
Johnny Heineken (USA)
Julien Kerneur (FRA)
Bryan Lake (USA)
Nico Landauer (URU)
Axel Mazella (FRA)
Daniela Moroz (USA)
Joey Pasquali (USA)
Ty Reed (USA)
Stefaans Viljoen (RSA)
Tony Vodisek (SLO)

2017 Extreme Sailing Series™ calendar
March 8-11 – Muscat, Oman
April 28-May 1 – Qingdao, China
June 29-July 2 – Madeira Islands, Portugal
July 20-23 – Barcelona, Spain
August 10-13 – Hamburg, Germany
August 25-28 – Cardiff, UK
October 19-22 – San Diego, USA
Nov 30-Dec 3 – Los Cabos, Mexico

Background: The Extreme Sailing Series is in its eleventh season, with this year’s eight event tour travelling through Middle East, Asia, Europe and the Americas. The platform used is the one design foiling GC32 catamaran, with the format highlighting ‘stadium’ short-course racing in front of the public.

Source: ESS