New European Extreme 40 circuit for 2007

Sailing event management company, OC Events, and creators of the Extreme 40 Class, TornadoSport, have today officially joined forces to take this new and exciting Class forward in to 2007 and beyond. Their collaboration is underpinned by the creation of a series of regattas in Europe, to be managed by OC Events. Existing Extreme 40 teams have already confirmed their participation in the series, including Holmatro, Team Basilica and Conrad Humphreys Racing.

The Extreme 40 is the ultimate Grand Prix racing sailboat. Designed by Yves Loday, in collaboration with Mitch Booth, at 40ft long, this lightweight carbon fibre catamaran has already shown its ability to provide exciting sailing, very close to the shore, offering a ‘grandstand’ sport for spectators and a unique B2B experience for guests. Normally sailed by four professional crew with a fifth VIP spot even in the full pressure races, the boats can reach exhilarating speeds of up to 35 knots in the right breeze and flat water – and yet even in just 8 knots of wind provide a great ride ‘flying’ on one hull. The fact that the catamaran can be easily packed into a standard 40-foot container completes the concept of a highly flexible B2B platform, that is also a top class racing yacht.

The Extreme 40 class made a spectacular debut in the 2005/06 Volvo Ocean Race competing at a number of stopovers around the world. After 70 races, in five different countries, it was two times Olympic Silver medallist Randy Smyth from America who finally clinched the inaugural series, ahead of Team Basilica.

Now the Extreme 40 Class, under the mantle of OC Events and TornadoSport, is all set to move forward into a new era. “We recognised early on the appeal of the Extreme 40 Class for the sailor, sponsor and the media and we wanted to be part of this new sailing product in the future,” commented OC Group CEO, Mark Turner. “We began discussions with TornadoSport over the summer and quickly established a basis to move forward with the creation of a series of events in Europe in 2007. We are making a long-term investment in the Extreme 40 Class and the 2007 circuit will be backed by some key commercial partners.”

TornadoSport expect a number of new boats to go into production in time for the 2007 season, and will confirm the size of this new production run in the coming days. A number of bids from European cities are already under consideration for the event venues – the inaugural tour is likely to include the UK, France, Italy, Holland and Germany.

Having invested a great deal of time and effort to get the Extreme 40 Class off the ground, Herbert Dercksen and Daniël Koene, current owners of TornadoSport are naturally excited about the prospects for phase 2: “This is a great and exciting opportunity for the Extreme 40 class to move forward to the next stage of its development. Although we could not have asked for a better launch pad for the Class than the Volvo Ocean Race circuit in 2005/6, an association which we hope will also continue in the next edition in 2008/9” commented Dercksen. “We will be working closely alongside OC Events to ensure that this new series in Europe is a great success and supplying the increasing demand for new boats, as well as continuing to provide other quality racing opportunities for the owners” concluded Dercksen, CEO, TornadoSport.

Further details of the 2007 calendar will be available in the coming weeks to the race teams, with an official detailed announcement likely in January.

More information at www.xtreme40.com