Extreme Sailing Series: Cabo or bust

The stunning Mexican municipality of Los Cabos will host the season finale of the 2017 Extreme Sailing Series™, with eight teams from eight nations – including a Mexican-flagged wildcard – going head-to-head from November 30 to December 3.

Front-runner SAP Extreme Sailing Team has had an outstanding season so far and has shown no signs of slowing down, but the overall season victory for the Danish squad is not guaranteed at this critical stage.

“This is my first season on the Extreme Sailing Series and to have been able to join such a fantastic team and to be leading the Series is great,” said Kiwi helm Adam Minoprio.

“We’ve been up against some very tough teams and to have a few points up our sleeve going into the last event is great, but we have a long way to go to win. We need to do everything perfectly in Los Cabos. One slip-up or one gear failure could mean the one point that costs us the Series.”

Minoprio added how the first time venue in Mexico will have additional challenges, “It will be hard work for the teams to stay concentrated with all the fun to be had in Los Cabos with the sports fishing, surfing and beach culture.”

Phil Robertson’s Team Oman Air are not out of the fight yet. If the Omani team, that narrowly missed out on victory in 2016, is able to put two boats between itself and the current leader in the rankings for Los Cabos it will claim the 2017 title.

“The season has been a very competitive one. We’ve been fairly consistent and are looking to finish it off strong,” said skipper Robertson. “It’s not going to be easy for us to win as SAP Extreme Sailing Team have a nice buffer but they have it all to lose. The pressure is off us and we will be going out there with free spirits looking for the win.”

Robertson seconded Minoprio’s enthusiasm about the new Stadium Racing venue, located at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula: “At Team Oman Air, we’re excited to visit Los Cabos, mainly for the Mexican food and the surf. It has been super nice for the Series to visit new cities this year. San Diego turned it on for the last Act; maybe Mexico can one-up it.”

2016 champion Alinghi goes into Act 8 in third, just one point behind Team Oman Air, meaning they too are in with a shot at the title, while Red Bull Sailing Team, currently in fourth, will be looking to secure a spot on the overall podium. The Austrian team, skippered by double Olympic gold-medalist Roman Hagara, has had three podium finishes so far this season.

Having been joined by Ben Ainslie for San Diego, Land Rover BAR Academy has enlisted the help of Giles Scott, a fellow Olympic gold medalist and America’s Cup sailor, for the final stage. The British syndicate is in sixth place, two-points behind NZ Extreme Sailing Team helmed by America’s Cup winner Josh Junior.

The regular six crews will be joined by two wildcards Lupe Tortilla Demetrio, the US team who also competed in San Diego, and Team Extreme México. The Mexican entry will have three of the country’s top sailors on board, including skipper Erik Brockmann. The trio will be the first Mexicans ever to compete in the Series.

The fleet will race from 14:00 – 17:00 local time (UTC-7) on Thursday November 30 to Sunday December 3, with the racing broadcast on a live stream on on Saturday and Sunday. To watch live… click here.

Overall Results – 2017 Extreme Sailing Series (after seven events)

Event details – Scoreboard – Live blog – Facebook – YouTube

Crew line-up for 2017 Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 8, Los Cabos, presented by SAP

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: Giles Scott (GBR)
Mainsail trimmer: Elliot Hanson (GBR)
Headsail trimmer: Oli Greber (GBR)/Sam Batten (GBR)
Floater: Adam Kay (GBR)/Matt Brushwood (GBR)

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

NZ Extreme Sailing Team (NZL)
Co-skipper/helm: Josh Junior (NZL)
Co-skipper/mainsail trimmer: Graeme Sutherland (NZL)
Headsail trimmer: Harry Hull (NZL)
Foil trimmer: Josh Salthouse (NZL)
Bowman: Andy Maloney (NZL)
Reserve: Matt Connolly (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/tactician/mainsail trimmer: Rasmus Køstner (DEN)
Co-skipper/coach: Jes Gram-Hansen (DEN)
Helm: Adam Minoprio (NZL)
Headsail trimmer: Pierluigi de Felice (ITA)
Bowman: Richard Mason (GBR)
Trim assist/grinder: Mads Emil Stephensen (DEN)

Team Extreme México (MEX) Wildcard
Skipper/foil trimmer: Erik Brockmann (MEX)
Helm: Chris Taylor (GBR)
Mainsail trimmer: Alex Higby (GBR)
Headsail trimmer: Tom Buggy (GBR)
Floater: Danel Belausteguigoitia (MEX)
Floater: Armando Noriega Negrete (MEX)
Reserve: Martin Evans (GBR)

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