The greatly anticipated finale of the 2012 Extreme Sailing Series will take place in the city of Rio de Janeiro as the Series heads West to make its South American debut, announced Series organisers OC Sport on the October 3rd at the São Paulo Boat Show alongside host venue partners BR Marinas. The event will be the culmination of eleven months of global touring for the eight Extreme 40 teams where the final races of the Series will be played out for the overall 2012 Series championship title.
Known as the cidade maravilhosa – or marvellous city – Rio de Janeiro has been enticing visitors for years and for good reason. Flanked by iconic mountains, white-sand beaches, lush rainforests and with a bustling city centre at its heart, Rio seems to have it all.
Racing will take place over four days from the sixth-9th December – the first of which will be open water racing in front of the world-famous Copacabana beach, before three days of stadium racing off Flamengo Beach and under the silhouette of Brazil’s most widely recognised landmarks, the Corcovado and Sugarloaf mountains, providing an iconic backdrop for the stadium racing. Adorned with a 38-metre statue of Jesus, known as Cristo Redentor or Christ the Redeemer, on its peak, this globally recognised landmark is also one of the New Seven Wonders of the world and will be watching over the Extreme 40s in their first South American foray.
Klaus Peters from BR Marinas spoke of the partnership: 'As a company which has its roots in nautical activities, we are thrilled at being able to offer to the Brazilian people a show of such level as the Extreme Sailing Series.'
He continued, 'Brazil’s shore is 9,200 km long with beautiful sceneries which shows how strong our calling is for nautical sports. I believe our full potential is still far from being fulfilled, even considering the fantastic feats of our Brazilian sailing stars like Lars and Torben Grael, Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada. We hope that the Extreme Sailing Series will help motivate that vocation and will also instigate the rising of new sailing stars for our country'.
Rio is no stranger to hosting global sailing events having hosted three Volvo Ocean Race stopovers. Brazil’s rich sporting heritage is continuing to go from strength to strength - not only will they be proud hosts to the 2016 Summer Olympics, the city’s Maracanã Stadium will also host the final match for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and now, in a four-year deal, the Extreme Sailing Series will become part of that sporting legacy.
Mark Turner, Executive Chairman of OC Sport, the organisers of the Extreme Sailing Series commented: '2011 was a crucial year for the Extreme Sailing Series, going from a European circuit to a global, international tour. Rio de Janeiro marks another milestone for the circuit as it is the first time we will visit South America with Rio de Janeiro joining an already iconic line-up of venues.' He continued, 'It is important for the Series that the sporting level is as high as it can be while bringing the sport closer to the public through the stadium racing format. Rio de Janeiro will lend itself perfectly to that and there is no doubt it will be a spectacular venue to finish what has already been a successful 2012 Series.'
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