Stevie Morrison returns to Extreme Sailing Series for Hamburg showdown

A second British-flagged squad has entered Act 5, as the Extreme Sailing Series returns to Hamburg's River Elbe from tomorrow, presented by Land Rover. The wildcard entry, Team Extreme, will be skippered by British Olympian Stevie Morrison.

"The GC32 is a fantastic boat and the format of the racing is so unique and exclusive to the Extreme Sailing Series. It's the only place you can get that theatre-style, dramatic racing," said Morrison, who comes armed with past experience in the ultimate Stadium Racing championship, including a stint on board Team Turx last season.

"It's clearly going to be full-on coming back to join the fleet like this with a crew that has never sailed with each other before, but I'm up for the challenge," added Morrison.

Commenting on the German venue, which is set in the heart of one of Europe's largest ports, he said: "I was in Hamburg two years ago and it was a really cool place to sail. It's right in the middle of a great city and there were huge crowds last time. It's a great chance to show off sailing to the public."

The star of the show among Morrison's international crew is local German hot-shot Linov Scheel, a 20-year-old 49er campaigner from Kiel, who will make his debut in the Extreme Sailing Series as bowman.

"I am really looking forward to sailing in this world-class fleet," said Scheel, who also has experience in the Flying Phantom, the smaller two-man foiling catamaran that sails alongside the GC32 at the European Acts of the Series.

"I haven't sailed on a GC32 before but, as I have quite a bit experience on performance sail boats like the 49er, I feel well prepared. I will try to learn as much I can and as quickly as possible," added Scheel, who competed in the Red Bull Foiling Generation in 2016, a regatta featuring similar boats and a similar racing style to the Extreme Sailing Series.

"We are a new team that has never sailed together before. We will take it one race at a time and try to improve over the regatta. If we have more boats behind us on day four than we had on day one, that would make us happy."

British sailor Tom Buggy brings valuable experience to the table as headsail trimmer, having competed in the Series as part of many wildcard crews, including in the previous Act in Barcelona.

Morrison draws on some fellow Olympic veterans to complete the crew, in the form of Portuguese duo Frederico Melo and Luís Brito, who both sailed last season on board Visit Madeira.

For full details of the all the crew line-ups visit the official website.

Racing kicks off at 13:30 UTC+2 tomorrow and fans can follow the action online via the live blog for the first two days. Racing will be streamed live on the official Facebook and YouTube channels from 13:30 – 17:00 UTC+2 on 12 and 13 August.

The Race Village, which offers a prime viewing spot of one of the tightest racecourses of the Series, along with plenty of free on-shore entertainment, will be open from 11 – 13 August from 10:00 – 19:00 UTC+2. It is located at the Hamburg HafenCity Cruise Centre, Chicagokai. Visit the official event page for more details of the location and entertainment schedule.

For those looking for a more unique experience, the Extreme Sailing Series offers a range of VIP packages, which include the opportunity to race on board a GC32 catamaran. More information can be found on the VIP tickets page.

Team Extreme (GBR) crew line-up for 2017 Extreme Sailing Series™ Act 5, Hamburg, presented by Land Rover

Skipper/helm: Stevie Morrison (GBR)
Mainsail trimmer: Frederico Melo (POR)
Headsail trimmer: Tom Buggy (GBR/IRL)
Foil trimmer/bowman: Luís Brito (POR)
Bowman/floater: Linov Scheel (GER)