Extreme Sailing Series

The Extreme Sailing Series (ESS) (formerly the iShares Cup) was an annual global racing series, organised by OC Sport, which ran from 2007 to 2018.

Extreme Sailing Series

First held	2007 (2007)
Organizer	OC Sport
Classes	Extreme 40 (2007–2015) GC32 (2016–2018)
Champions	Alinghi (2018)
Most titles	Alinghi (4) The Wave, Muscat (4)
Website	extremesailingseries.com

The series started in 2007 with its main attraction being the stadium racing which puts the race course inside a stadium environment for the ease of spectators' viewing.^[1]

Many of the sailors taking part in the series were around-the-world yachtsmen, Olympic medallists, America's Cup sailors, World and European champions and even world record holders.^[2][3]

The series was terminated in 2019 after the event became financially nonviable and OC Sport were unable to secure a management buy-out.^[4][5]

Results

Extreme 40s at the 2011 edition in Cowes

An Extreme 40 catamaran

Year[6]	Venues	Entries	Winning team	Winning skipper
2007	6	9	Basilica	Rob Greenhalgh
2008	5	9	Alinghi	Ed Baird
2009	6	9	Oman Sail Masirah	Pete Cumming
2010	5	8	The Wave, Muscat	Paul Campbell-James
2011	9	11	Luna Rossa	Max Sirena
2012	7	8	The Wave, Muscat	Leigh McMillan
2013	8	8	The Wave, Muscat	Leigh McMillan
2014	8	11	Alinghi	Morgan Larson
2015	8	8	The Wave, Muscat	Leigh McMillan
2016	7	8	Alinghi	Arnaud Psarofaghis
2017	8	6	SAP Extreme Sailing Team	Jes Gram-Hansen & Rasmus Køstner
2018	8	6	Alinghi	Arnaud Psarofaghis

Based on results from 2007 to 2018, Pete Greenhalgh (GBR) is the most successful sailor from the series, consistently finishing on the podium, including 1st place in 2007 on Basilica, alongside his younger brother, Robert Greenhalgh.