Thanks to Suzanne and Alan for this latest sailing update. Ed
For the Extreme Sailing Series 2014, now in an eighth consecutive year, there will be a number of well known female sailors taking part. A ‘fifth sailor’ rule introduced by Series organisers OC Sport in 2012 stipulates that one member of the crew must either be female, under 23, or classified as an amateur by ISAF.
Year on year the number of female sailors competing in the Series has grown and this year is no exception with two well known female British sailors-Sarah Ayton and Pippa Wilson- amongst those taking part.
Local Olympic talent
Historically Cowes resident double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson took part in 2008. To date Shirley is the only women to skipper a boat for a full season (2008 with J.P. Morgan Asset Management) and the only female skipper to win an Act when she won in Lake Lugano, Switzerland.
Joining the Island champion
Britain’s double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Ayton will be making a welcome return to top level competitive sailing after a three-year break when she joins Leigh McMillan and his team, the defending champions, on the ‘The Wave, Muscat’ for this year’s Extreme Sailing Series.
She is more than ready for the challenge of what she describes as the ‘most high-performance’ sailing she has ever done,
“I’m honoured to be sailing with The Wave, Muscat and I am really looking forward to getting started. I’m sure the boys will agree with me that going into 2014 as defending champions doesn’t add to the pressure, we’ll be focusing on our own performance and taking one race at a time.”
Training in Singapore
As a novice to the Extreme 40, Sarah is currently in Singapore, Host Venue for Act 1, where she will be putting in the training hours with the team in preparation for the elite level Stadium Racing that begins on the 20th February.
Sarah is best known as one of the world’s most formidable Yngling sailors, after first securing gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics with Shirley Robertson, and then defending the title in 2008 winning her second gold in Beijing alongside J.P Morgan BAR’s Pippa Wilson.
So, will there be any on-water rivalry between the two? Sarah says not.
“I’m really looking forward to it, it’s been a while since Pippa and I have been on the same racecourse, thankfully now in something a bit faster than a Yngling!”
“Very exciting for me”
Olympic champion Pippa Wilson will join J.P. Morgan BAR for the 2014 Series – a team that comes brimming with Olympic pedigree, with three gold medallists on board, including Pippa. However, the Extreme Sailing Series presents a whole new challenge for Pippa who said,
“The Extreme Sailing Series is something I have watched with many of my friends competing in it over the last few years, so to be a part of it this year is very exciting for me.”
She continued,
“I am completely new to the Extreme 40 and relatively new to catamaran sailing, but hopefully my background so far in the Nacra 17 and the other boats I’ve sailed will offer me some relevant insights into the extreme racing!”
After a spell away from competitive sailing, when Pippa took the opportunity to focus on other interests including a Sports Science degree at Chichester University, she’s now back on the water and has launched her next Olympic campaign for Rio 2016 in the Nacra 17 class.
Talking about how the two campaigns will work together, Pippa explained:
“Fortunately the racing dates fit in very well with the Extreme circuit so hopefully I will be able to draw on some of the parallels between the two classes.”
