CHINA One to debut in Extreme Sailing Series™

by Extreme Sailing Series 14 Mar 2016 18:03 GMT 16-19 March 2016

Taylor Canfield and his crew will compete in the 2016 Extreme Sailing Series on board CHINA One © Sander van der Borch / M32 Series / WMRT

The CHINA One sailing team, skippered by former world match racing champion Taylor Canfield, is to compete in the 2016 Extreme Sailing Series™.

Jointly run by Canfield, sailing team manager Hayden Goodrick and Kiwi America's Cup veteran Craig Monk, CHINA One joins seven other elite professional crews contesting this year's Series that starts with Act 1 in Muscat on March 16th.

This year the Extreme Sailing Series has moved to foiling for the first time in its 10-year history and Canfield is looking forward to getting to grips with the GC32 one-design.

"It is great to have the opportunity to compete in the Extreme Sailing Series," said Canfield, aged 27, originally from St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. "As the sport of sailing has transitioned from monohull racing to multihull racing, we are excited to get the chance to do both."

World Match Racing Champion Taylor Canfield will skipper CHINA One in the 2016 Extreme Sailing Series - photo © Sander van der Borch / M32 Series / WMRT

The CHINA One team is a new franchise created by the sailors behind the successful US ONE team and aims to achieve international success while looking to develop sailing in China through education and world-class events.

Team principle and chief executive officer Craig Monk views the Extreme Sailing Series as an ideal vehicle to achieve his team's goals. "The Extreme Sailing Series is the ultimate start to our sailing journey," he said. "It has all the elements that represent the highest level in our sport. We are looking forward to testing ourselves against the best in the world."

Goodrick said: "It's an exciting time for our team. Over the past 10 months we have expanded our existing US One program by creating a second franchise brand in CHINA One.

"Our team is focused on Grand Prix multihull circuits and we want to compete against the best in the world and we see foiling as an important stepping stone in heading down the America's Cup pathway."

The CHINA One team is made up of experienced match-racers with Canfield on the helm, alongside Kiwi tactician and bowman Chris Steele, trimmers Goodrick and Shane Diviney and Australian Luke Payne.

Starting alongside CHINA One are Alinghi, co-skippered by Ernesto Bertarelli and Arnaud Psarofaghis, SAP Extreme Sailing Team, co-skippered by Jes Gram-Hansen and Rasmus Køstner, Land Rover BAR Academy, skippered by Bleddyn Môn, Sail Portugal, skippered by Diogo Cayolla, Red Bull Sailing Team skippered by Roman Hagara, Oman Air skippered by Morgan Larson and Team Turx, co-skippered by Stevie Morrison and Edhem Dirvana.

The 2016 Extreme Sailing Series season starts on Wednesday, March 16 in Muscat when eight teams of the world's finest sailors, from 15 nations, return to the stunning Al Mouj Golf Course in the heat of Oman for four days of intense battle.

The new season marks not just the introduction of super-fast foiling on GC32 catamarans, but also innovations in race format including a new coastal race and match racing, that complement the core proposition of the Series, its unique Stadium Racing format.

On March 16, the boats will race in front of the stunning historic backdrop of the Old Town in Muscat before returning, in a 20km coastal race, to Al Mouj, in the first race of this duration in Extreme Sailing Series history.

Team line-up: