Extreme Sailing Series Act 5 - Hannah Mills to join Team Wales

by Extreme Sailing Series on 20 Aug 2012 Extreme Sailing Series Act 5 is being held from 31st August to 2nd September 2012 in Cardiff, Wales. Olympic silver medallist and one half of the successful British 470 women’s duo Hannah Mills, will be flying the Welsh flag as part of Team Wales, a wildcard entry for Act 5. Team Wales will bring the tally of boats on the start line up to nine when the Extreme Sailing Series makes its Welsh debut as the high-octane centrepiece to the Cardiff Harbour Festival.

Team Wales, with the valuable backing of high performance shaving brand King of Shaves, will be led by one of Wales’ most talented young sailors, Dave Evans, who at 26 years old will be the youngest competing skipper in the fleet. Cardiff born and bred Evans and his Skandia Team GBR 49er team mate Ed Powys narrowly missed out on selection for the London 2012 Olympics in the high-performance skiff, and both will make their Extreme 40 debut as part of Team Wales. 'I can’t wait to get into the Extreme 40! Experience seems important in the class, but speaking to some of the current sailors, the racing is quick and snappy just like we are used to in the 49er,' observed Evans. 'We missed out on selection for the Olympics in Weymouth, so it’s great to be given a chance to do a big event this summer, and on home waters it will be great to show friends and family what sailing looks like on the doorstep.'

The duo is joined by a group of equally gifted young sailors, who between them already boast a number of impressive accolades. Anglesey born sailor Tudur Owen will bring a wealth of knowledge to the position of trimmer including match racing and America’s Cup experience while rising Australian sailing star Torvar Mirsky, who provided some of the most exciting racing during his 2011 Extreme Sailing Series debut including a spectacular capsize in Qingdao, China, will return to the Extreme Sailing Series at the helm of the Welsh boat. Watch some of the most extreme capsizes and near misses from the last six Extreme Sailing Series seasons, including Mirsky’s capsize, here:

Team Volvo sailor Hannah Mills is thrilled to return to Cardiff as part of her home team, Team Wales. 'The last few weeks have been amazing, a complete whirlwind! Now I am looking forward to my next challenge; racing with Team Wales at Act 5 of the Extreme Sailing Series in Cardiff. It will be awesome to return to my hometown as an Olympic medallist and race on the Extreme 40 catamarans- a completely new experience for me. It looks to be a great event and hopefully there will be more winning and more celebration!'

Team Wales will join the eight established Extreme 40 teams which include many of the world’s best sailors, in the intense stadium format in the heart of Cardiff Bay over four days of racing. Will King, Founder & CEO of The King of Shaves Company Ltd., the British ‘challenger brand’ in high performance shaving and one of only three companies in the world that market world class wet shaving products said: 'Hyperformance is at the centre of our global product strategy for 2012 and beyond. Following our backing of Team GB athlete James Ellington in the run-up to London 2012, we wanted to continue our association with demanding, exacting and technically challenging disciplines, and involvement at the Extreme Sailing Series event in Cardiff delivers this perfectly.' James Ellington, who represented Team GB in the 200 metres at this summer’s Olympic Games will be joining the Extreme 40s in Cardiff to take up the much-coveted guest sailor spot for Extreme Sailing Series website