Ben Ainslie, Franck Cammas to race in next month's Extreme Sailing Series in S'pore

Ben Ainslie, the most successful sailor in Olympic history, will be among a star-studded cast when Singapore hosts the first leg of the Extreme Sailing Series (ESS) next month.

The Briton, who has four Olympic golds and a silver from five editions of the Games, was announced as one of the skippers of the nine teams on Wednesday. He will be joined by other sailors such as Frenchman Franck Cammas, considered one of the world's best ocean racers, and Leigh McMillan, who skippered reigning champions The Wave Muscat last year.

The ESS is widely considered the Formula One of sailing and is raced on Extreme 40 catamarans. Singapore will host the opening leg at The Promontory@Marina Bay from Feb 20-23.

Local sailors Scott Glen Sydney and Justin Wong will race on local invitational side Team Aberdeen Singapore.

Said Sydney: "The Extreme 40s attract the best sailors in the world. With new teams this year, the racing promises to be thrilling and from my point of view, a great learning experience. You just can't make mistakes on a small, tight course like that of Marina Bay."

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