Six Extreme 40 catamarans, three countries, 24 sailors: all on a whistle-stop tour of Asia. The inaugural Extreme Sailing Series Asia finished on Friday 5 February with the 2009 European Champions Oman Sail Masirah being presented the new Series trophy by royalty in the Sultanate of Oman. DON’T MISS THE WORLD SPORT SHOW, CHANNEL 4, SATURDAY 13TH FEBRUARY (more info below)

Oman Sail’s Masirah night-sailing in Singapore during the Extreme Sailing Series Asia.
OC Events

OC Events took the award-winning circuit to the region to demonstrate what a future full-scale circuit with shoreside entertainment, VIP hospitality and, of course, the on-water sailing, could deliver to the region. For this first Asian series, the objective was to engage with the media and commercial sectors, whilst at the third and final event in Muscat, a two-day ‘Extreme Beach Event’ took it up a level engaging the public as well.

“This first Extreme Sailing Series Asia exceeded all our expectations. The spectacular sailing conditions in all three locations brought us tight racing by some of the very best sailors and demonstrated the potential to venue partners, key opinion formers, government officials and the media what a full-scale series could bring to their region in future years,” commented Mark Turner, CEO OC Group, owners of the organising company OC Events. “We developed the European circuit in exactly the same way, starting small with a focus on the VIP and media side and four years later here we are with a multi-stop European tour that saw over 200,000 people watch the action in person in 2009. We made the call to go for this first opening series in pretty tough economic times, but we believe our investment will be successful and are already in discussion with potential new venue and series partners for the 2010/2011 tour,” he concluded.

The Extreme Sailing Series Asia circuit received widespread media attention, not only in the countries it visited, but internationally as the media were entertained by the personalities as well as the action on the water. World Sport (formerly Gillette World of Sport), the internationally distributed sports programming, will include Muscat in this week’s show which will go out on UK Terrestrial broadcaster Channel 4 this Saturday (7:30am) and the following Tuesday (01:30am) and across Europe. There has been regular coverage from the series on TV channels including a daily live feed on Oman TV, ITV Meridian and Sky Sports (UK), Eurosport and Euronews (FRA), ATV, ORF 1 & 2 (AUT), Media Corp (SNG) and Mediaset (ITA).

The reach will increase from March 2010 when a 26-minute programme will be distributed and air on channels including Sky Sports (UK), Sport + (FRA), ESPN (Pan-Asia) and Fox Sport (pan-USA & South America).

The circuit began in Hong Kong (20-24 November), racing out of the prestigious Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club for five days including a day with the 200-plus fleet for the annual Around the Island Race, where the Extreme 40s took line honours.

The six catamarans were then packed up and transported to Marina Reservoir, right underneath the World’s tallest observation tower in Singapore (11-15 December), the first time the stretch of water had been used for a professional sport event.

The series concluded last week in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, where the home team Masirah lifted the inaugural championship trophy. Three days of racing in front of a VIP setup, was followed by an ‘Extreme

Beach Party’ with over 2,000 people gathering at Al Hail beach for a five-a-side football competition, volleyball matches, the Muscat round of the Red Bull Street Style competition as well as watching the racing, which took place in front of government statesmen and royalty for the Omani weekend.

“It’s been exciting introducing new people to the circuit,” commented Emily Caroe, PR Director of OC Events Extreme Sailing Series. “There’s nothing better than welcoming a non-sailor to the circuit, be it World record-breaker Assafa Powell in Singapore or a female journalist in her traditional dress who has never even stepped on a boat before. Persuading them to conquer their fears and step onto an Extreme 40 was not easy, but by the time your back is turned, they are on the helm, or trimming and shouting for the hull to fly even higher. It’s such a great experience and provides them with a unique story.”

Seventy journalists attended the three, five-day events, and when conditions allowed stepping onboard and racing in the fifth man positions onboard the six Extreme 40s. Andreas Tzortzis, from international magazine, Red Bulletin, raced with double Olympic Gold Medallist Shirley Robertson onboard Rumbo Almeria. “That was absolutely fantastic. You are absolutely in the thick of it and that is an experience you don’t normally have in sailboat racing unless you are racing yourself. As a spectator, or even as a journalist you don’t nearly get so close so it gives you an understanding of the amount of pressure they are under. It is absolutely astonishing.”

There have been over 180 pieces of quality coverage from the three events, with press junkets at each venue to experience Extreme racing first hand. Journalists attended from Sina.com, China’s leading online portal which ran daily reports, China Boating, The Business Times and Today Newspaper all visited the opening event in Hong Kong. An international visit of GCC media attended the final event in Muscat including journalists from Men’s Passion, Ahlan and Al Rai in Kuwait, the Qatar Tribune, Ohlala Magazine, Bahrain Confidential and Areej Magazines in Bahrain, Business Traveller and City Times in the United Arab Emirates.

“Our goal was to bring a select group of journalists who could experience first hand an Extreme Sailing Series event. Thanks to the support of the Muscat Municipality, they had the chance to see a public facing event with all the activities on Al Hail beach as well as the racing,” commented Caroe.

Thierry Barot, skipper of China Team was impressed with his first venture into Extreme 40 sailing: “It was very impressive, right in front of the public but still this sport is very intense, delivery is very high in terms of tactics and strategies. I really believe it is the future of sailing. This is what sailing needs in term of development – the Extreme Sailing Series is a sport in itself.”


And as the Asian tour comes to an end, the next begins. The Extreme Sailing Series Europe starts in earnest in May 2010 with the first venues being announced shortly.

Oman Sail Masirah crowned winners of the final event in Muscat and the overall Series.
(All Photos by Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/OC Events)

First European champions, now Oman Sail Masirah is crowned champion of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia. This event was billed locally as ‘Oman Sail versus The World’ and they came out on top in style. It was a great victory on their home soil and it went to the wire with Masirah winning the final race of the Muscat event to clinch both the regatta title and take the Extreme Sailing Series Asia crown. The Wave, Muscat and China Team completed the podium in 2nd and 3rd also for the regatta and overall.

This three-event Asian tour has seen many familiar faces from the European tour, such as, double Olympic Gold Medalist Shirley Robertson, solo round the world skipper Nick Moloney and European Champion Pete Cumming, whilst newcomers Thierry Barot on China Team and Roman Hagara on Red Bull Extreme Sailing have gone from a ‘standing start’ to put in an awesome performance, pushing the more seasoned racers all the way.

The Asian circuit kicked off in Hong Kong, then Singapore before ending here in Muscat at a full public event:

“It was very impressive, right in front of the public but still this sport is very intense, delivery is very high in terms of tactics and strategies. I really believe it is the future of sailing,” said China Team skipper Thierry Barot. “This is what sailing needs in term of development – the Extreme Sailing Series is a sport in itself.”

At the start of the fifth and final day of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia Muscat event there were a few worried and tense looking sailors on the dockside – the wind was blowing over 20 knots and the anticipation of some tense battles ahead only heightened the stakes. Thierry Barot’s China Team and Paul Campbell-James and the crew on The Wave, Muscat were on equal points at the start of racing with Masirah just one point behind and it was clear this was where the battle for the podium would be taking place.

Red Bull Extreme Sailing who suffered a capsize yesterday were just one point ahead of Nick Moloney’s BT, whilst Shirley Robinson on Rumbo Almeria knew she could play catch up if things went in her favour. The scene was set for an awesome display of Extreme racing.

As the local crowds gathered on Al-Hail beach for the final day of the ‘Extreme Beach Party’, racing got underway with two rounds of ‘speed runs’.
The reefed Extreme 40s relished these high-speed conditions courtesy of the 20+ knots of north-westerly wind, and flew down the windward/leeward course flying the hulls in front of the packed VIP platform.

As the wind dropped to around 10 knots, the huge mainsails were hoisted to the top of the masts, and fleet racing began. The Oman Sail boats led the way – first place for The Wave, Muscat and second for Masirah. China Team finished fourth place behind BT, putting them 6 points behind leaders. Another drama for Red Bull as their mainsail came tumbling down mid-race. They quickly hoisted a man of the mast to sort it out and were back racing in time for the penultimate race.

The pressure was at the max… The skippers jostling for position on the short start line – Paul Campbell-James misjudged the start and was over the line, forcing him to restart as their teammates sailed away to snatch the race. China Team were struggling in the lighter airs, as the Oman boats pulled ahead on the leaderboard. But the double-points final race was coming up…

His Highness Sayyid Shahab bin Tariq Al Said, Advisor to His Majesty, His Excellency Maqbool bin Ali bin Sultan, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Her Excellency Dr. Rajiha bint Abdulameer bin Ali, Minister of Tourism, joined the VIP guests on the platform for the start of the final race.

Only just enough wind remained to propel the boats over the line. Pete Cumming takes up the story: “We’re quite a heavy crew so when the wind went right down, we had a bit on as the guys on The Wave are light and very quick. But they made the cardinal sin of stalling the boat in the start zone, and when it’s really, really light you just have to keep moving as boat speed is key. We saw them stalling the boat and we just sheeted on and got away.” Masirah went into the lead to win the final race and clinch victory here in Muscat. “It’s everything we worked for and hoped for! But you can’t underestimate the guys that turned up for the Asian series at all. We’ve seen the fleet get stronger and stronger and every event and push us harder and harder in every race.”

It was a superb end to a fantastic inaugural Extreme Sailing Series Asia. Only in a few months time, the Extreme Sailing Series European circuit will be starting – we can’t wait!

Extreme Sailing Series Asia : Muscat
1st Oman Sail Masirah, 103 points
2nd The Wave, Muscat, 101 points
3rd China Team, 91 points
4th BT, 84 points
5th Red Bull Extreme Sailing, 71 points
6th Rumbo Almeria, 70 points

Extreme Sailing Series Overall:

1st Masirah, 18 points
2nd The Wave, Muscat, 11 points
3rd China Team, 11 points
4th BT, 10 points
5th Red Bull Extreme Sailing, 8 points
6th Rumbo Almeria, 5 points

Thousands gathered on the beach on the first public day of the Muscat event of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia to see the six teams race in the biggest breeze so far – not only of the Asian series but the entire 2009 European series! With 25 knots of wind that accelerated the boats downwind at speeds of 30km per hour, this was white-knuckle racing for the sailors in fully testing conditions and a capsize for Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team…

Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team capsize on Day 4, Muscat.
Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/OC Events

Nose dives, rooster tails, close calls, penalties, breakages, fraught mark roundings… For the sailors it was physical and stressful, for the spectators it was pure entertainment drawing cheers as the six teams threw themselves around the short race track.

For the Omani public the two-day ‘Extreme Beach Party‘ kicked off on Al-Hail beach to the west of the capital city with the Red Bull Street Style competition, five-a-side football tournament and the Arsenal soccer school open for business, alongside ‘try-sailing’ sessions. With local radio Hai FM keeping the crowds they had plenty to entertain them both on and off the water.

Back on the water, boat handling and precision gennaker hoists and drops proved crucial… The six boats raced with a reef and for the first two races without their massive gennakers, but the race committee finally gave the nod for the sails to be used in the remaining races.

Inevitably the pressure piled on and Red Bull Extreme Sailing, still leading overall, got caught out in race 5. Trying to hold on to their huge gennaker for as long as they dare as they approached the final downwind mark, the furl wasn’t slick enough, and the breeze caught in the sail enough to tip them over as they attempted to round the mark for the final sprint to the finish line. Skipper Roman Hagara, was taken to hospital to have stitches put in his hand. Game over, not only for the day’s racing but also as the team had to relinquish their overall lead to Thierry Barot’s China Team, helmed by Hugh Styles, on the penultimate day of the Muscat event – the final round in the Asian Extreme Sailing Series. Hugh: “We had a few little curve balls at the start of the day and we were last in the first race. But we just tried to keep clean and out of trouble, especially coming into the top mark. Tomorrow’s another day and we’re looking forward to doing better.”

Oman Sail’s Masirah had the best day on the water today – languishing in 4th place overall after yesterday’s match racing session – Pete Cumming’s team scored the most points to elevate Masirah to 3rd in the overall standings with 70 points, just behind their stablemate The Wave, Muscat now in 2nd place going into the final day of racing tomorrow. Bowman, Khamis Al Anbourri, “Today we had 25 knots – a really amazing day! Earlier in the day we were doing some practice match racing with Shirley and it just got windier so we put a reef in. We didn’t use gennakers in the first two races then we were allowed to use them. It was quite hard work and all the time concentrating to go faster. This is the windiest conditions I’ve raced in – we’ve been waiting for conditions like this in Oman to show the people it’s a really amazing sport, hard work but wonderful.”

Oman Sail Masirah have come to the final Asian event in Muscat holding the series lead and their first performance over the first three days was starting to look worrying but now they are back on form and there is no doubt the team are fully motivated to win on home soil.

BT and Rumbo Almeria may not have had the best day on the water but saved their best performance till the final race scoring a first and a second place.

Tomorrow is the final day of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia Muscat event which will see the event and overall series trophies claimed. With a similar weather conditions expected tomorrow – the stakes could not be higher!

Thousands gathered on the beach on the first public day of the Muscat event of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia to see the six teams race in the biggest breeze so far – not only of the Asian series but the entire 2009 European series! With 25 knots of wind that accelerated the boats downwind at speeds of 30km per hour, this was white-knuckle racing for the sailors in fully testing conditions and a capsize for Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team…

Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team capsize on Day 4, Muscat.
Mark Lloyd/Lloyd Images/OC Events

Nose dives, rooster tails, close calls, penalties, breakages, fraught mark roundings… For the sailors it was physical and stressful, for the spectators it was pure entertainment drawing cheers as the six teams threw themselves around the short race track.

For the Omani public the two-day ‘Extreme Beach Party‘ kicked off on Al-Hail beach to the west of the capital city with the Red Bull Street Style competition, five-a-side football tournament and the Arsenal soccer school open for business, alongside ‘try-sailing’ sessions. With local radio Hai FM keeping the crowds they had plenty to entertain them both on and off the water.

Back on the water, boat handling and precision gennaker hoists and drops proved crucial… The six boats raced with a reef and for the first two races without their massive gennakers, but the race committee finally gave the nod for the sails to be used in the remaining races.

Inevitably the pressure piled on and Red Bull Extreme Sailing, still leading overall, got caught out in race 5. Trying to hold on to their huge gennaker for as long as they dare as they approached the final downwind mark, the furl wasn’t slick enough, and the breeze caught in the sail enough to tip them over as they attempted to round the mark for the final sprint to the finish line. Skipper Roman Hagara, was taken to hospital to have stitches put in his hand. Game over, not only for the day’s racing but also as the team had to relinquish their overall lead to Thierry Barot’s China Team, helmed by Hugh Styles, on the penultimate day of the Muscat event – the final round in the Asian Extreme Sailing Series. Hugh: “We had a few little curve balls at the start of the day and we were last in the first race. But we just tried to keep clean and out of trouble, especially coming into the top mark. Tomorrow’s another day and we’re looking forward to doing better.”

Oman Sail’s Masirah had the best day on the water today – languishing in 4th place overall after yesterday’s match racing session – Pete Cumming’s team scored the most points to elevate Masirah to 3rd in the overall standings with 70 points, just behind their stablemate The Wave, Muscat now in 2nd place going into the final day of racing tomorrow. Bowman, Khamis Al Anbourri, “Today we had 25 knots – a really amazing day! Earlier in the day we were doing some practice match racing with Shirley and it just got windier so we put a reef in. We didn’t use gennakers in the first two races then we were allowed to use them. It was quite hard work and all the time concentrating to go faster. This is the windiest conditions I’ve raced in – we’ve been waiting for conditions like this in Oman to show the people it’s a really amazing sport, hard work but wonderful.”

Oman Sail Masirah have come to the final Asian event in Muscat holding the series lead and their first performance over the first three days was starting to look worrying but now they are back on form and there is no doubt the team are fully motivated to win on home soil.

BT and Rumbo Almeria may not have had the best day on the water but saved their best performance till the final race scoring a first and a second place.

Tomorrow is the final day of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia Muscat event which will see the event and overall series trophies claimed. With a similar weather conditions expected tomorrow – the stakes could not be higher!