Extreme Sailing Series: Like Formula One on water?

It’s like motor racing on water – deafening music blares out in the countdown to races, and fans flock to the water’s edge. Welcome to the Extreme Sailing Series, extreme by name and extreme by nature.

Expect capsizing, high-speed wipeouts and crashes involving catamarans that are twice the size of the biggest Olympic boats – and notably faster, reaching top speeds of 30 knots. That’s a speed of 35 mph (56 kph) – maybe not as quick as an elite sports car, but fast enough for huge adrenalin surge.

Races take place across the globe, from narrow Amsterdam canal waterways to Sydney’s spacious harbor for the season finale.

It’s also awash with star sailors, including two-time America’s Cup winner Ernesto Bertarelli, Ben Ainslie, whose tactics helped guide Team Oracle to victory in San Francisco last year, and 2013 losing skipper Dean Barker.

It’s no surprise, then, that extreme sailing has been described as the Formula One of the water — although it’s less wheel-to-wheel and more hull-to-hull racing.

For his part, Ainslie, himself a F1 fan, likens it to another form of motorsport: “It’s basically sailing’s version of stock-car racing. The courses are very short and there are collisions and spills.”

This is sailing with a twist, as crews regularly employ guests on board, often celebrities, with the likes of Duran Duran singer Simon LeBon, ex-F1 boss Eddie Jordan, former England cricketer Michael Vaughan and current Wales rugby skipper Sam Warburton having tackled the world’s waters in competition.

The 2014 season – the seventh since its inception – starts in Singapore on Thursday (Feb. 20). It will be Ainslie’s first race since winning the America’s Cup and, as well as being a means to whet his appetite for future events, there is also a more serious purpose to his involvement this time around. – CNN, read on

Click here for details on the 2014 Extreme Sailing Series.