Extreme Sailing Series update, top female sailors to join the series in 2014

From the following press release on the Extreme Sailing Series website:

http://www.extremesailingseries.com/news/view/here-come-the-girls-top-female-sailors-on-board-for-2014-series#.UvNWe6_Nvrc

In 2014, the Extreme Sailing Series™ will, for the eighth consecutive year, bring a wealth of sailing talent from America’s Cup superstars, Olympic medallists and offshore legends to the shores of eight iconic venues around the globe – and amongst them are some of the world’s most talented female sailors. The ‘fifth sailor’ rule, introduced by Series organisers OC Sport in 2012, stipulates that one member of the crew must either be female, under 23, or classified as an amateur by ISAF. As a result, year on year the number of female sailors competing in the Series has grown, and has historically included the likes of double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson, the only women to skipper a boat for a full season in 2008 with J.P. Morgan Asset Management - and the only female skipper to win an Act in Lake Lugano, Switzerland. 2014 will see the biggest influx of ‘girl power’ since the Series began – find out more about the women taking on the challenge below.

Sarah Ayton (GBR)
Team: The Wave, Muscat
Role: Tactician
Top three sailing achievements:
- Olympic gold medal – Beijing 2008 – Yngling with Pippa Wilson and Sarah Webb
- Olympic gold medal – Athens 2004 – Yngling with Shirley Robertson and Sarah Webb
- Yngling World Champion in 2008 and 2007

Britain’s double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Ayton will be making a welcome return to top level competitive sailing after a three-year break, joining the defending champions The Wave, Muscat. And she is more than ready for the challenge of what she describes as the ‘most high-performance’ sailing she has ever done. “I'm honoured to be sailing with The Wave, Muscat and I am really looking forward to getting started. I'm sure the boys will agree with me that going into 2014 as defending champions doesn't add to the pressure, we'll be focusing on our own performance and taking one race at a time.”

read more here