After an extraordinary and nail-biting finish to what was another ground-breaking, and high quality racing year for the Extreme Sailing Series, the award-winning Stadium Sailing event confirms its 2012 circuit.

The same award-winning format, but two new countries and three new venues will accompany five proven Host Cities from the highly-charged 2011 circuit. The ‘ISAF Special Event’ circuit continues its 9-month globe-trotting tour as it enters its sixth year of competition, with 8 events spanning 3 continents – once again in the GCC region, Europe, Asia and new for 2012, South America. The circuit will start in Muscat, Oman between 28th February to 2nd March and this time conclude in Brazil, home of the 2016 Olympics.

Oman Sail, CEO, David Graham commented: “It's the third time that the Extreme Sailing Series has been to Muscat, Oman – the first time in 2009 as part of the Extreme Sailing Series Asia Tour and again at the start this year as the opening Act of the global 2011 tour. We had really good conditions and the sailors really enjoyed racing there, which is paramount. We have improved our facilities on the shore and the organisers continue to evolve the on-water action so it's going to be a great start to the 2012 series. The event has been great for the Omani public as we have Omani sailors competing on the circuit and the public get right behind them. There is huge support not just in Muscat but also around the world, and the event also attracts great media coverage in Oman and around the world so it works well for the Oman Sail programme, especially the tourism element of the project.”

The host venues represent a mix of iconic cities, established sailing venues, and new markets where professional sailing remains in its infancy. “The circuit continues to represent perfectly the developments in the world at large, with its balance of east and west, different cultures and languages, and variety of conditions,” said Mark Turner, Executive Chairman of the organising company OC ThirdPole. “Year on year the commercial value of hosting the event for the Host Cities has increased, and this is reflected in the 2012 developments.”

2012 circuit spanning Europe, Arabia, Asia and South America

The 2012 Extreme Sailing Series™ will start in the Sultanate of Oman in February before heading back to Qingdao, China for Act 2. Istanbul, Turkey, the gateway between Europe and Asia, will host Act 3 before the Extreme 40 fleet heads to Porto, Portugal, a new host venue in 2012. After the habitual visit to the UK in August, the circuit will return to the Sicilian port of Trapani for the third consecutive year. The iconic city of Nice will be the final stop in Europe before the 2012 finale to be staged in Brazil for the very first time (there will be an official media event in January where the precise location will be unveiled).

Event Format: the highest level of sporting integrity in the short,sharp and simple Stadium Sailing format

As in 2011, at every Act, three of the racing days are staged in the Stadium open to the public and VIP guests. This game-changing professional sailing circuit attracted over 287,000 spectators in 2011 with its unique blend of ‘stadium’ short-course racing, including all the various disciplines and courses used already from fleet racing to match racing and straight line duels, whilst maintaining its high-level of competition which was borne out by producing 6 different winners from the nine events. 2011 saw a big step in the evolvement of the public entertainment, with an extended mix of entertainment on the public days that included supporting on water acts like the Olympic 49er class racing, Moth demo sailing, the NeilPryde Windsurfing Series and kids racing Optimists. On shore family-orientated entertainment from kids activities, dance and music took place within the Extreme Race Village. Alongside this event formula, stood the premium VIP facilities that is a vital part of the Extreme Sailing Series offering, that includes the unique guest sailing experience onboard the Extreme 40s.

2012 Calendar & Host Venues:

Act 1 : Muscat, Oman 28th February – 2nd March
Act 2 : Qingdao, China 19th – 22nd April
Act 3 : Istanbul, Turkey 7th – 10th June
Act 4 : Porto, Portugal 5-8 July
Act 5: UK August
Act 6 : Trapani, Italy 13th – 16th September
Act 7 : Nice, France 18th – 21st October
Act 8 : Brazil 29th November – 2nd December

In each case the event is open to the public and VIP guests on days 2-4 only.

2011 Key Stats:

9 Acts
3 continents
301 races
11 teams / 2 wildcards
6 different Act winners (see below)
287,000 spectators
5 capsizes
5 crashes
15 nationalities
42 TV broadcasters
1 million YouTube views