GC32 catamarans, showcased at the Extreme Sailing Series in Nice

From the following press release on thegreatcup.com http://www.thegreatcup.com/newsitem.aspx?newsId=55c99a89-9a52-43bf-8d02-d6a298a02528&month=10&year=2013 A new chapter opened for the GC32s last week when they joined the Extreme Sailing Series for the penultimate Act of the Land Rover-backed 2013 stadium sailing catamaran circuit in Nice, France. While the main attraction remains the Extreme 40 catamaran racing, the Series events are slowly evolving into mini sailing festivals, with multiple attractions, rather than just one. Thus on Nice’s Baie des Anges each day between 1000 and 1300, racing between the two GC32s - Laurent Lenne’s SPAX Solution and Flavio Marazzi’s Marwin - has been a warm-up act for the Extreme 40s. Amsterdam-based Frenchman Laurent Lenne, the GC32’s creator, explains what being in Nice means: “The association with the Extreme 40s is an important endorsement: to be accepted as a good enough class to join them and be part of the spectacle. It showed what the possibilities are, being alongside the Extreme 40s, because we both race catamarans and have a similar vision. It is just different formats.” While the boats are different, the GC32 courses are longer than the ultra-short ones the Extreme 40s sail, but they still have a turning mark immediately off the VIP tent on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais. For both Lenne and Extreme Sailing Series organisers OC Sport, Nice has been a ‘toe in the water’ exercise, which may lead to the GC32s joining more ESS events in Europe next year. read more here SPAX Solutions powered up while racing in nice, photo courtesy The Great Cup