Giles Scott to race with Land Rover BAR Academy for 2017 Extreme Sailing Series finale
by Dan Wilkinson 23 Nov 2017 09:52 GMT
30 November - 3 December 2017
Land Rover BAR Tactician, Giles Scott to join Land Rover BAR Academy in Mexico © Harry KH / Land Rover BAR
Giles Scott – Olympic gold medallist and tactician aboard Land Rover BAR for the 35th America's Cup – will join the young sailors of the Land Rover BAR Academy in Mexico for the final Act of the Extreme Sailing Series 2017.
Act 8, takes place from 30th November – 3rd December in Los Cabos, Mexico, and Giles will join the team as helmsman. He will take over from Ben Ainslie, Land Rover BAR's Team Principal and Skipper, who raced with Land Rover BAR Academy for the penultimate Act in San Diego, last month.
Giles Scott, who alongside the racing will spend time mentoring the young team of sailors, commented on joining the line-up: "I'm excited to be heading to Mexico to race with Land Rover BAR Academy for the final event of the 2017 series. We have all been following the team's progress for the past two years and we are proud of their efforts particularly in winning the Red Bull Youth America's Cup last summer. This will be my first time sailing on the GC32 and I'm looking forward to getting amongst this high octane competitive fleet."
The Land Rover BAR Academy was launched in January 2016 as a pathway into the America's Cup. In early 2017, Neil Hunter was promoted from the youth ranks to the Land Rover BAR senior team, becoming the youngest sailor to compete in the 35th America's Cup in Bermuda. Annabel Vose went from the Land Rover BAR Academy to join a Volvo Ocean Race team, and now 23-year-old Chris Taylor – who is campaigning for Team GB for Tokyo 2020 in the 49er class and helmed Land Rover BAR Academy to victory in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup – is the latest graduate to enjoy professional success.
Chris will join Team Extreme Mexico as their helmsman for Act 8: "It's been fantastic to be part of the Land Rover BAR Academy. It's been an exciting journey, winning the Red Bull Youth America's Cup was a huge highlight, all the hard work really came together and we have also continued to see improvement event by event in the Extreme Sailing Series.
"The programme has been hugely valuable for my sailing career, it's provided great opportunities and the chance to race with Team Extreme Mexico in the final Act of the ESS circuit tops them all."
The Extreme Sailing Series racing starts on Thursday 30th November. All the action can be followed through the Land Rover BAR social media channels and www.extremesailingseries.com.
Extreme Sailing Series Standings:
1st SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 78pts
2nd Oman Air (OMA) 73pts
3rd Alinghi (SUI) 72pts
4th Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 66pts
5th NZ Extreme Sailing Team (NZL) 56pts
6th Land Rover BAR Academy (GBR) 54pts
Land Rover BAR Academy Crew List:
- Skipper/ Bowman - Rob Bunce
- Helmsman - Giles Scott
- Mainsail trimmer - Elliot Hanson
- Headsail trimmer - Sam Batten / Oli Greber
- Float - Adam Kay/Matt Brushwood