Fog delays start of Extreme Sailing Series Qingdao

Qingdao, China (April 30, 2015) – Persistent heavy fog forced the cancellation of racing on day one at the Land Rover Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 3, Qingdao. It is only fourth time in the nine-year history of the Series that mother nature has forced the organisers to cancel racing, but the first time it has happened due to fog.

Famous for its mixed conditions, this morning’s forecast on Fushan Bay was for a building five-knot breeze and hazy conditions clearing throughout the day, but the city of Qingdao had other things in mind.

“We were all set up and the teams were going through their practice run when a fogbank rolled in from offshore,” Race Director Phil Lawrence explained. With visibility quickly falling to 40 meters, Lawrence was forced to make a call. “Racing was impossible and we initiated our fog control plan with the fleet and supporting boats quickly returning to shore. Despite being held for two hours the fog became thicker instead of lifting and racing was abandoned for the day.”

Despite the fog, today was a landmark moment for Extreme Sailing Series, with the skippers press conference kicking off proceedings with the announcement of an exciting new partnership with one of the world’s leading airlines and the Sultanate of Oman’s national carrier – Oman Air.

The partnership with Oman Air sees a full ‘360 activation’ from the airline, supporting not only a competing team, but now as an event supplier. This latest addition to the family of Series partners further strengthens the Extreme Sailing Series position as the leading sponsors funded Stadium Racing circuit.

With three full days of racing planned through May 3 for the national holiday weekend here in China, the forecast is looking promising, but with Qingdao already catching the sailors off guard anything could happen.

ESS website – Event details – Twitter updates

Source: ESS media

Background: The Extreme Sailing Series is in its ninth season, with this year’s eight event tour travelling through Asia, Europe, and Australia. The platform used is the one design Extreme 40 catamaran, with the format highlighting ‘stadium’ short-course racing in front of the public.