Bundock to helm Extreme 40 BT for iShares Cup series

7:34 PM Thu 26 Mar 2009 GMT

'BT Extreme 40' ThMartinez / Sea & Co &copy

The 2009 calendar for the iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series is confirmed and the BT Extreme 40 is ready for action with a strong crew line up led by Nick Moloney. Six rounds will be staged across Europe that will see the leaders in the sport of sailing fighting for the overall iShares Cup, bringing the sport of Extreme 40 racing to the public for a third year running.

Nick Moloney will be competing as the skipper of the BT Extreme 40 for a third season having finished twice on the iShares Cup podium in third place in 2007 and 2008. The racing is expected to be intense and even more competitive with a strong line-up of 9 teams for the 2009 season. Building on two years of experience in the iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series, Nick Moloney is the mainstay of the team. He has also a wealth experience to his name including sailing campaigns in inshore, offshore, crewed and solo sailing disciplines. An America's Cup sailor, Moloney has also circumnavigated the globe three times. The first during the Whitbread Round the World Race 1997-1998 (now the Volvo Ocean Race), the second when he was part of the 2002 Jules Verne record breaking crew and the third during the 2004-2005 solo non-stop round the world Vend?e Globe. 'Onboard BT, I guess I am a bit of a mediator bringing the experience on handling the racing machine and overall strategy and onboard kinetics,' said Moloney.

Moloney and Bundock - BT Extreme 40 - Vincent Curutchet / DPPI /OC

There is a change of helm for BT, as top Australian Olympic catamaran sailor Darren Bundock steps in. Darren helmed the BT boat at last year's finale in Amsterdam, so is experienced at sailing the powerful Extreme 40s. Darren returned from the Beijing Olympics where he scored his second silver medal in the Tornado class. He is also a six-times Tornado World Champion and three-times F18 World Champion.

Nick and Darren will be joined by top British Tornado crew Ed Barney who takes the role of trimmer (controlling the huge mainsail that is effectively the 'engine' of the boat powering it along up to speeds up 25+ knots) in his second season onboard BT. The fourth member of the team is Steve Mitchell, a double Star World Champion crew who represented Britain at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Steve will be running the front of the BT Extreme 40, as bowman and mastman. ''Stevie' Mitchel is our powerhouse and has great overall sailing experience and boat knowledge as a past world champ - he also delivers some great jokes that can help the guys de-stress sometimes!' joked Moloney.

Day 2 - iShares Cup Amsterdam
? Vincent Curutchet/DPPI/OC Events
'It's a great bunch and the same team we had for Amsterdam last year. All have spent a full season with the team though not together. Amsterdam was strong with this exact unit so we are feeling very good about this year's campaign. This will be the first time we will be starting the year with an experienced Extreme 40 crew. In 2007 we were all new to the class and due to Olympics in 2008 we rounded up a completely new team to take on that season. Continuity, trust, belief and confidence in our unit will be our greatest strength this year. We have an amazing team and we feel fortunate and excited about our plans and objectives for the iShares Cup 2009.'

iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series 2009:
Event 1 - Venice, Italy, 15th to 17th May
Event 2 - France, 3rd to 5th July
Event 3 - United Kingdom, 1st to 3rd August
Event 4 - Kiel, Germany, 28th to 30th August
Event 5 - The Netherlands, 25th to 27th September
Event 6 - Almer?a, Andaluc?a, 10th to 12th October

For further information about the iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series go to www.iSharesCup.com

by BT Extreme 40 media

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