The Danish SAP Extreme Sailing Team is back in the Extreme Sailing Series and is determined to take a podium spot. In 2016 SAP Extreme Team managed to finish only fourth in the series.
«Our results in 2016 were mixed. We lacked stability in different conditions. In 2017 we want to be on the podium again and compete with the best teams»," said SAP Extreme co-skipper Rasmus Køstner. In 2015, the Danes managed to take silver in the competition.
Although the Danish skipper duo - Kostner and Jes Gram-Hansen - remained in the squad, the Danes were joined by former world match race champion Adam Minoprio from New Zealand. Minoprio will replace Gram-Hansen at the helm in some races.
Jes-Hansen will not be on board for the first time since 2012, when SAP Extreme made her Extreme Sailing Series debut.
«Our goal is to continually look for ways to improve the team's performance. Combining our experience with that of Adam will give a better understanding of how to get the most out of the GC32," commented the Dane on the radical line-up change. - Of course this decision was not easy for me, I have a great passion for racing, but the most important thing for me is to make SAP Extreme one of the best sailing teams in the world».
Minoprio already had experience sailing the new GC32 foils catamarans: he was helmsman of the Norauto team that joined the Extreme Sailing Series in the seventh act of the 2016 season.
Jes-Hansen added that in those races in which he will be replaced by Minoprio, he will be on the coaching boat and closely monitor SAP's analytics to be able to prompt the team from the outside, observing the competitors' actions as well.
Another newcomer to SAP Extreme is British 470 and F18 yachtsman Richard Mason. He will be the team's bowman.
Staysail trimmer Pierluigi de Felice will be temporarily replaced in the first act by Frenchman Hervé Cunningham, who already competed for SAP Extreme in 2015.
In addition to SAP Extreme, the reigning champions, the Swiss Alinghi, have already confirmed their participation in the Extreme Sailing Series - 2017.
The Extreme Sailing Series 2017 will start on 8 March in Muscat.
