Six teams have confirmed to take part in the Act 2 of the 2017 Extreme Sailing Series, which will be held in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao from April 28 to May 1, said an official of local sports bureau on Friday.
The six teams are Alinghi from Switzerland, Land Rover BAR Academy from Britain, Oman Air from Oman, Red Bull Sailing Team from Austria, SAP Extreme Sailing Team from Denmark, and Tawera Racing from New Zealand, said Xu Zhongwei, deputy director of Qingdao sports bureau.
Thirty-four sailors from six teams have won a total of four Olympic gold medals, 21 world championship titles, 25 European championship titles and 96 national championship titles, Xu said.
The Act 1 of the race was held in Muscat of Oman from March 8 to 11, and in the third leg after Qingdao, the participating fleets will visit Madeira Islands of Portugal, Hamburg of Germany, Cardiff of Britain, San Diego of America and Los Cabos of Mexico. The Act 4 venue has yet to be decided.
This will be the seventh straight time that the Extreme Sailing Series visits Qindao, the sailing venue of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The Extreme Sailing Series pit professional sailing teams in the world against each other on identical hydro-foiling GC32 catamarans. The teams compete on short but extremely tactical courses, meters from the shore, providing spectacular stadium-style entertainment for the public.
