The notoriously tight and tricky course will put pressure on the teams to perfect their boat handling
The INEOS Rebels have arrived in Cardiff, ready for the extreme racing on home waters. The seven GC32 teams will take to Cardiff Bay’s small and intense course for the fifth event of the Extreme Sailing Series [ESS], racing from Friday 24th through to Monday 27th August.
It’s the seventh time the series returns to the Welsh capital and Friday’s opener looks set to deliver tricky and tactical stadium racing, in a gusty and patchy 18 – 21 knots of breeze. The notoriously tight and tricky course will put pressure on the teams to perfect their boat handling as well as provide plenty of opportunities to gain - but also loose - places over the four days of racing.
The team claimed a third place finish at the ESS Cascais last month with Helmsman and mentor, Leigh McMillan going on to have further success - and an event win - with the senior INEOS TEAM UK team in Palma on the GC32 Racing Tour.
23 year old Skipper, Will Alloway:
“The team is pretty fired up for some good racing in Cardiff this year and we are looking forward to the support from the home crowd, it’s a big motivator for us when we are out on the racecourse.
“We had a debrief post-Cascais to analyse our performance and identify the areas for improvement, we wanted to go into this event knowing we have done all we can to be as prepared as possible and feel we have done that and are in a good place, so hopefully our results will reflect this.”
Helmsman and Mentor, Leigh McMillan:
“We’ve had a couple of practice sessions, which has been good for us to put the boat through its paces and we are seeing the typical Cardiff conditions already. I’ve done a few events here over the years and it’s quite a different racecourse compared to the other Extreme Sailing Series venues. It’s a small and compact race area and it’s always pretty gusty; you also have the St David’s hotel straight off the start line, which can cause a bit of havoc with the breeze."
Racing starts on Friday 24th from 1400 – 1700. SAP will host live insights and 3D analytics over the four event days with the racing streamed live online at INEOS TEAM UK on Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday.
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INEOS Rebels UK Extreme Sailing Series Cardiff line up:
Leigh McMillan – Helmsman & Mentor (INEOS TEAM UK senior sailor)
Will Alloway - Skipper/Trim
Oli Greber – Bow
Mark Spearman – Main Trimmer
Adam Kay – Float
Andrew Walsh - Coach
Matt Adams – Boat Captain
Extreme Sailing Series™ 2018 overall standings Position / Team / Points
1st, Alinghi (SUI) 45 points
2nd, SAP Extreme Sailing Team (DEN) 44 pts
3rd, Oman Air (OMA) 41 pts
4th, INEOS Rebels UK (GBR) 37 pts
5th, Red Bull Sailing Team (AUT) 33 pts
6th, Team México (MEX) 27 pts
7th, NZ Extreme Sailing Team (NZL) 7 pts
Extreme Sailing Series 2018
Muscat, 14 - 17 March – 4th
GC32 World Championship, Lake Garda 24 May – 27 May
Barcelona 14 – 17 June
Cascais, Portugal 5-8 July
Cardiff, 24 - 27 August
San Diego, 18 - 21 October
Los Cabos, 29 November – 2 December