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History of the Class
The history of the Extreme 40(*) may be short, but full of spectacle. Shortly after the first built 40ft carbon fibre catamaran hit the water in 2005, Extreme 40’s debuted in the international racing scene during several stop overs at the 2005/2006 Volvo Ocean Race, in an in-port racing format, called the Grand Prix Racing Series.
The interest of public and media for these racing monsters grew fast, as the Extreme 40’s continued to provide spectacle, sailing in-port and close to shore races in the view of the public at the iShares Cup and the today's Extreme Sailing Series.
Extreme Sailing Records
As the Extreme 40 is one of the fastest objects on earth driven by wind, TornadoSport started to establish events to set sailing records, challenging anyone to break it. In September 2006, five Dutch top sailors set a first record time on an Extreme 40, sailing around the wind park in front of Egmond aan Zee in The Netherlands in 2 hours and 19 minutes.
 Download the Wind Energy record PDF
Another time was set earlier by Team van Oord in 2005, sailing around 'The World' island in Dubai.
In-port racing at Volvo Ocean Race 2005/2006 stop over venues
The class looks set to increase in popularity and size this year and has certainly grown in both since 2007 but it was the first chapter in this Classes history which really set the standard going forward.
In 2005 - 06 five Extreme 40s were raced infront of hundreds of spectators at five stopover ports, as part of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06.They entertained and enthralled visitors in Sanxenxo (ESP), Rio de Janeiro (BRA), Baltimore (USA), Portsmouth (GBR) and Rotterdam (NED).
It was at this event that not only the public began to love these catamarans but sponsors and corporate hospitality guests as well. As the numbers of boats rose so did the strength and appeal which followed them around the world.
To read more information on the 2005-06 VX40 circuit go to :
Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix 2005-06 SERIES
You can still enjoy the spectacle of these races on a series of DVDs covering the Grand Prix events of Sanxenxo, Rio de Janeiro and Rotterdam. Each DVD contains 30 minutes of pure action, CLICK HERE to view a 5 minute preview and to make an order. The Extreme 40's raced up to four races a day over 4-5 days on a racecourse that was located as near to the shore as possible. After eighty races, in five countries, during seven months, it all came down to the last day to decide the winner of the Volvo Extreme 40 grand prix series 2005-06. Conrad Humphrey’s Motorola-CHR won the concluding grand prix series in Rotterdam after a final head to head but it was not enough to snatch overall victory from Tommy Hilfiger skippered by two times Olympic silver medallist Randy Smyth (USA).
American Randy Smyth and his team of Stan Schreyer, Jonathan Farrar and Richard Feeney put together the best series and were awarded duly with overall victory. Tommy Hilfiger started the series with a bang, winning the inaugural grand prix in Sanxenxo, Spain. After initial victory, their performance took a small dive in Rio de Janeiro when they finished in third place, behind Team Basilica who were delighted to win their first grand prix series, in front of Motorola-CHR.
The third grand prix series took the five teams to Baltimore, USA, and here on home ground the all-American team of Tommy Hilfiger excelled. Again they took overall victory, just in front of Team Holmatro skippered by class creator Mitch Booth.
From there it was on to British shores and the port of Portsmouth. England provided some exciting sailing in windy conditions which saw two of the teams capsize in spectacular style. This time the victory went to the all-British Team Basilica helmed by Alister Richardson who looked comfortable on home-waters. Motorola-CHR finished second followed by Tommy Hilfiger. It would be all to play for going into the final grand prix series in Rotterdam, Holland.
The overall series trophy came down to the last race on the final day and in fact was only settled in the protest room. In the end overall victory went to Smyth and Tommy Hilfiger who managed to fend off the charge from the other four boats to win the inaugural 2006-06 Volvo Extreme 40 grand prix series. Randy Smyth and his team celebrated in style as they held the trophy high on the podium. "It’s been the biggest day. No one likes winning in the protest room, I like winning on the water but if that’s what it has come down to and I am very happy that we have won. We have a great team and a fantastic sponsor plus we really enjoy ourselves; we have loved the last few months.”
Overall Series Rankings 2005-2006
Position / boat name / skipper / points
1st Tommy Hilfiger / Randy Smyth / 40 pts
2nd Team Basilica / James Grant / 36 pts
3rd Motorola-CHR / Conrad Humphreys / 36 pts
4th Holmatro / Mitch Booth / 29 pts?
5th Volvo Ocean Race / Nigel Pit / 24 pts
After the Volvo Ocean Race in-port circuit, the Extreme 40s continued to entertain at some key events throughout 2006 including the JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race (Isle of Wight, UK) and Skandia Cowes Week (UK). The Extreme 40 racing continues to attract the very highest level of sailors from the top-end of the sport.
For more information on the 2005-06 VX40 circuit go to :
iShares Cup
The following major serie of events was the iShares Cup, continued today as Extreme Sailing Series Europe and Extreme Sailing Series Asia.
eXtreme 40 Sailing Series 2008
While the iShares Cup was evolving, the eXtreme 40s decided to particpate in the Volvo Ocean Race in-port racing programme of 2008 in Alicante. The programme was not extended to follow the entire Volvo Ocean Race as in 2005/2006, but racing was exciting.
eXtreme 40 World Championships
For the first time ever, the World Championships in the eXtreme 40 Class, officially recognized by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) , took place from 12 - 18 July 2010.
The debut of this World Championship was a new major asset in the evolution of the eXtreme 40 Class on top of the Extreme Sailing Series already developed througout the World, bringing pleasure and excitement to spectators ashore.
Extreme Sailing Series 2010
Today, eXtreme 40's draw thousands of people from the regions where eXtreme 40's are performing, all over Europe.
* TornadoSport is the creator and sole rights holder of the eXtreme 40 concept. The company is lead and owned by multi World Champion Herbert Dercksen. TornadoSport's vision is to bring sailing to the public and combine the highest level of inshore multihull sailing with extreme high level corporate entertainment.
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