Four-day regatta begins tomorrow
Cardiff Bay is busy turning itself into a stadium, ready to host this weekend’s Extreme Sailing Series.
Nine Extreme 40 catamarans will race in the bay for four days from Thursday as part of Cardiff Festival, the UK’s biggest free outdoor festival.
Britain’s Leigh McMillan, who was the co-commentator for the BBC’s Olympic sailing coverage, has skippered The Wave, Muscat to victory in three of the series’ four legs so far.
But McMillan warned spectators not to be too confident of another victory for his crew. He said: ‘I think it is going to be really difficult in Cardiff.
‘We have had a pretty good winning streak, but at some point these things always come to an end.
‘It is going to be hard with all the teams gunning for us, but we are coming into Cardiff with a new motivation and energy and we intend to convert that into another win in front of our friends and family.’
Spectators will be able to view the racing for free from every side of the course with the bay transformed into a stadium.
The racing is only open to the public on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, when it can also be watched via a live stream on the event’s website from 2pm on Friday.
First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones said: ‘I am delighted that the Welsh government’s support has helped bring the Extreme Sailing Series to Cardiff Bay for the first time. This is a top-level international sporting event.’
Wales’ Olympic silver medallist Hannah Mills will be one of two women in the regatta, competing for one-off wildcard entry Team Wales.
Picture courtesy of Roy Riley / Lloyd Images.