Team line-ups confirmed for 2011 final showdown and 2012 calendar announcement date

Photo © Stefano Gattini / Alinghi.com

The 2012 Extreme Sailing Series™ global circuit will be announced on Tuesday, 13th December, just two days after the final Act of 2011 in Singapore and coinciding with the opening day of the World Yacht Racing Forum in Estoril, Portugal.  The worldwide circuit will once again span several continents as it goes in to its sixth year, with its award-winning ‘stadium racing’ format continuing to bring the sport to the public, entertaining fans in established markets and introducing the sport in countries where professional sailing is very new.

The skipper and crew line-ups for the 10 teams competing at the 9th and final Act of the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series circuit can be revealed today (see full list below). This includes Dean Barker back at the helm of Emirates Team New Zealand who lead the America’s Cup World Series Championship and is lying 3rd overall in the Extreme Sailing Series going into the final event, Alinghi skippered by Tanguy Cariou and helmed by Yann Guichard lying in 4th, 5th placed The Wave, Muscat skippered by Leigh McMillan, Roman Hagara’s Red Bull Extreme Sailing lying in 6th, Oman Air with new skipper Chris Draper at the helm in 8th and the all-British crew led by Ian Williams, recently crowned ISAF World Match Race Tour champion, on Team GAC Pindar in 9th. Two new entries in the form of Stéphane Kandler’s, SOITEC and the first club™, named Team Extreme – the first club™, headed by skipper Sébastien Col, and Team TILT, the Swiss-French squad that will also re-join the fleet after their first participation in Almería, with Swiss multihull lake sailor Alex Schneiter as skipper.

The action will begin on the 7th December on Marina Bay, under the iconic backdrop of the Singapore Flyer, also home to F1’s Grand Prix pitlanes, with the Extreme Race Village opening to the public from the 9th-11th.  The on-water action will be complemented by the NeilPryde Racing Series, following its debut on the Extreme circuit in Nice, which will see 20 of the best professional and amateur windsurfers from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Team crew list for Singapore:

Alinghi
Skipper/Tactician: Tanguy Cariou (FRA) / Helm: Yann Guichard (FRA) / Trimmer: Nils Frei (SUI) / Bowman: Yves Detrey (SUI)

Emirates Team New Zealand
Skipper/Helm: Dean Barker (NZL) / Tactician: Glenn Ashby (NZL) / Trimmer: James Dagg (NZL) / Bowman: Jeremy Lomas (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/Trimmer: Max Sirena (ITA) / Helm: Paul Campbell-James (GBR) / Tactician: Alister Richardson (GBR) / Bowman: Manuel Modena (ITA)

Oman Air
Skipper/Helm: Chris Draper (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 – the first club™
Skipper/Tactician: Sébastien Col (FRA) / Helmsman: Jean-Christophe Mourniac (FRA) / Trimmer: Franck Citeau (FRA) / Bowman: Christophe André (FRA)

Team GAC Pindar
Skipper/Helm: Ian Williams (GBR) / Tactician: Mark Bulkeley (GBR) / Trimmer: Andrew Walsh (GBR) / Bowman: Matt Cornwell (GBR)

Team TILT
Skipper/Trimmer: Alex Schneiter (SUI) / Helmsman: Charles Favre (SUI) / Tactician: Arnaud Psarofaghis / (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 (OMA)