OC Events has announced today the final venue on the 2010 Extreme Sailing Series circuit. Kiel, on the Baltic Sea in northern Germany will play host to the dynamic circuit for the third year running (26th -29th August) with the action, once again, being played out just metres from the shoreline.
In brief:
KIEL.SAILING CITY confirmed as German venue for 2010
OC Events commit to Extreme 40 for next 3 seasons at least, as the main act, but invite other ‘entertaining’ classes to the event.
Gilles Chiorri, Event Director for OC Events commented, « The final piece of the jigsaw is now in place. Kiel has seen some of the biggest crowds in the European circuit over the past three years. In 2008 over 80,000 people turned up to watch and even last year, when it rained solidly for three days, we still had over 50,000 determined spectators. We look forward to putting on some top racing and spectacular entertainment again for the German fans. »
Commenting on the return of the circuit, Lord Mayor Torsten Albig from the northern maritime land capital said: « KIEL.SAILING CITY is already internationally renowned for hosting one of the world’s most famous sailing regattas, Kieler Woche, so to welcome again another top level professional event to the calendar is fantastic news. »
The Kiel-Marketing Team, which masterminded branding the city as an international sailing venue, has developed an excellent working relationship with OC Events, promoting and marketing the event across Germany and supporting it with infrastructure for the teams and VIP hospitality. Uwe Wanger, managing director of Kiel-Marketing said, « With OC Events as a partner, we again look forward to a spectacular sailing event and we welcome all the international teams, their partners and guests visiting Kiel. We urge companies and institutions to use this unique platform to invite customers and present themselves to the German public in a setting of world class sports. »
The 2010 Extreme Sailing Series Calendar is now confirmed, with more days racing than ever before:
Sète, France 27-30 May
Cowes, United Kingdom 31 July-5 August
KIEL.SAILING CITY, Germany 26-29 August
Trapani, Italy 23-26 September
Almería, Spain 9-12 October
At least eight top international teams, with some of the best skippers in the world, will be on the start line in Sète on 27 May. Yann Guichard from the French team Gitana has already officially thrown his hat into the ring with his Extreme 40 Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, and the other teams that have now entered will announce progressively over the coming weeks. A mix of new and existing teams, some great new brands, and nationalities have joined this year’s circuit. Once again, the Extreme Sailing Series promises to be a spectacular circuit for both sailors and non-sailors alike.
OC Events has confirmed that the Extreme 40 catamaran will remain the boat of choice for the main act of the Extreme Sailing Series until at least Spring 2013, providing long term stability for the teams and boat owners.
At the same time, as OC Events strives to bring the sport of sailing as an entertainment product to the public at large, the organisers remain open to welcoming other classes to the Extreme Sailing Series circuit : « We have seen how the Extreme 40 racing can engage the general public and VIPs through their accessibility and easy to race format close to shore, and we’d like to extend the entertainment to include other exciting boats or watercrafts, from foiling Moths to some of the new hi-tech smaller multihulls or any class that is particularly strong at a particular venue, We will keep our minds open to any opportunity to add this kind of racing around the main act of the Extreme 40s, that can deliver more entertainment and encourage even better footfall to our events, » concluded Chiorri.