Extreme Sailing Series heads to Almeria for Act 8 - Preview + Video

The teams on the dock this morning before heading out for training - Act 8, Almeria, Extreme Sailing Series 2011 Junta de Andalucía

Olympic gold sailor Anton Paz on Team Extreme - Act 8, Almeria, Extreme Sailing Series 2011 © Junta de Andalucía

Some of the teams have been out training today on the official practice day including the new multinational team, Team TILT, led by Swiss multihull specialist Alex Schneiter, three-time of the Bol d’Or. He may find some familiarity between his M2 multihull light-wind lake racing to the prevalent light winds in Almeria today. Also out training was Spanish Tornado Olympic medalist Antón Paz with Team Extreme. Paz won gold at the Beijing Olympics and will be a great asset to Roland Gaebler’s team, a fellow Tornado Olympic bronze medalist.

Almeria has been the setting for the final over the last two years and many of the sailors know the venue well: 'This event has offered some pretty spectacular and very close racing particularly inside the harbour here,' said Leigh McMillan, skipper of The Wave, Muscat. 'With any kind of wind it can be full-on boat on boat battling. I think it’s inevitable that we will get some full-on situations in the stadium racing.'

Team Extreme training on day 0 - Act 8, Almeria, Extreme Sailing Series 2011 © Junta de Andalucía

Tomorrow is a Spanish National Holiday and the Extreme 40 fleet will be racing inside the port of Almeria to give the local holidaying public a taste of the stadium action to come. Although there will not be stacks of breeze over the next couple of days, by the weekend a good gradiant breeze and some gusty conditions will have developed, squeezed out of a high pressure located over Central Europe and a low pressure system developing near Sicily and extending over Tunisia and eastern Algeria. Setting the stage for some great final ‘stadium’ racing over the weekend.

One boat that always gets noticed by the crowds is Red Bull Extreme Sailing, who finished seventh in Almeria in 2010, with the team displaying a stunning turn of speed in the breeze. For this Act, Matt Adams, coach to the team, returns as trimmer. A diverse sailing career spanning match racing, TP52s, Fastnet Race and Figaro racing, Adams knows the team well and will fit into their talents perfectly. You can also find out why his nickname is 'Little Boy Blue'! Watch the ‘Nicknames’ video below.



The French team of Groupe Edmond de Rothschild now lead the 2011 Overall Extreme Sailing Series, after the victory at the last round in Nice, just two points ahead of the Italian team Luna Rossa helmed by Paul Campbell-James who was at the helm of The Wave, Muscat when they claimed overall victory last year in Almeria. For the teams in contention for the overall 2011 title, the penultimate event is all about setting them up for the final battle in Singapore. For others, that dream may be over but the final rankings will still be hotly contested: 'Having come back so well in the last three events in the overall standings, we might have thrown away realistically the chance of fighting for the overall win,' concluded McMillan. 'That one event in Nice was pretty tough. But in reality, we have already far exceeded what we thought we could achieve this year and even if we can get back in contention with the leaders, it is really about racing well and that is all we have set ourselves to do here.'

WebCam from Almeria – Schedule:
Wednesday, 12th October
Live stadium race coverage between 1445-1800 CET
Thursday/Friday, 13th/14th October
Post ‘open water’ racing analysis with the sailors
Saturday/Sunday, 15th/16th October
Live stadium race coverage between 1445-1800 CET

Extreme 40 crew list for Almería:
Alinghi
Skipper/Tactician: Tanguy Cariou (FRA) / Helm: Yann Guichard (FRA) / Trimmer: Nils Frei (SUI) / Bowman: Yves Detrey (SUI)

Emirates Team New Zealand
Skipper/Helm: Adam Beashel (AUS) / Tactician: Ray Davies (NZL) / Trimmer: Jeremy Lomas (NZL) / Bowman: Derek Seward (NZL)

Groupe Edmond de Rothschild
Skipper/Helm: Pierre Pennec (FRA) / Traveler: Christophe Espagnon (FRA) / Trimmer: Thierry Fouchier (FRA) / Bowman: Hervé Cunningham (FRA)

Luna Rossa
Skipper/Tactician: Max Sirena (ITA) / Helm: Paul Campbell-James (GBR) / Trimmer: Alister Richardson (GBR) / Bowman: Manuel Modena (ITA)

Niceforyou
Skipper/Helm: Alberto Barovier (ITA) / Tactician: Stefano Rizzi (ITA) / Trimmer: Daniele De Luca (ITA) / Bowman: Simone De Mari (ITA)

Oman Air
Skipper/Helm: Ben Ainslie (GBR) / Tactician: Kinley Fowler (NZL) / Trimmer: David Carr (GBR) / Bowman: Nasser Al Mashari (OMA)

Red Bull Extreme Sailing
Skipper/Helm: Roman Hagara (AUT) / Tactician: Hans Peter Steinacher (AUT) / Trimmer: Matt Adams (GBR) / Bowman: Craig Monk (NZL)

Team Extreme
Skipper/Helm: Roland Gaebler (GER) / Tactician: Nahid Gaebler (DEN) / Trimmer: Antón Paz (ESP) / Bowman: Tom Buggy (GBR)

Team GAC Pindar
Skipper/Helm: Ian Williams (GBR) / Tactician: Mischa Heemrskerk (NED) / Trimmer: Andrew Walsh (GBR) / Bowman: Brad Webb (NZL)

Team TILT
Skipper/Helm: Alex Schneiter (SUI) / Tactician: Boet Brinkgreve (NED) / Trimmer: Charles Favre (SUI) / Bowman: Nicolas Heintz (FRA)

The Wave, Muscat
Skipper/Helm: Leigh McMillan (GBR) / Tactician: Kyle Langford (AUS) / Trimmer: Nick Hutton (GBR) / Bowman: Khamis Al Anbouri Extreme Sailing Series website