[Source: Extreme Sailing Series] The iconic British brand Land Rover announced today an exciting new three year sponsorship as a Series Main Partner to the Extreme Sailing Series™. The Extreme Sailing Series, the elite level stadium racing annual circuit that spans the globe, is now in its seventh year and continues to go from strength to strength. As one of two top level series partners, the arrival of Land Rover brings further confirmation that the original stadium sailing circuit, has global and unique appeal for premium brands and quality host venues. The event has literally helped change the way sailing is seen, and with this new and exciting partnership, coupled with the series of other partnership announcements over the previous months, the Extreme Sailing Series’ position is confirmed as leading the sport into new territories, innovations and audiences.

As Series Main Partner (one of a maximum of two such Partners, with the other Series Main Partner space still under negotiation), this top-tier level sponsorship will enable Land Rover to promote their range of vehicles in key markets the Series visits including the UK, China, France and Brazil. Land Rover’s core values are interwoven in a natural way with the Extreme Sailing Series, as both brands look to innovation and performance as key benchmarks, as Mark Cameron, Land Rover’s Global Brand Experience Director, commented: “We are extremely excited to announce this new partnership with the Extreme Sailing Series. It is a natural fit for Land Rover and provides a perfect platform to showcase our shared core values. We identified the sport of sailing as an interesting target for us, and looked for the right property. The urban nature of the circuit, combined with these nonetheless off-road sailing machines, is a great fit. The Extreme 40s are high-performance multihulls able to race in nearly all weather conditions, whilst the Land Rover vehicles are able to tackle all terrains and conditions on land.”

Land Rover will also be granted trophy naming rights to half of the Acts each year and will also invest significantly in a full activation programme in support of their sponsorship of the Extreme Sailing Series. Land Rover will also be inviting their key VIP guests and media to the events to experience the unique thrill of sailing onboard their own Land Rover branded Extreme 40, with the option to enter the boat as a wildcard at selected Acts throughout the year, and to enter a full Series team in 2014.

This new sponsorship by Land Rover will be the company’s sole global sponsorship since announcing its support of the Rugby World Cup in 2011 and 2015, as well as rugby at a Grassroots and Premiership level in the United Kingdom. Land Rover is also the Official Vehicle of the Ski Club of Great Britain and sponsors all of the Ski Club’s on-snow activity and Equestrian Sports in the UK from the British Eventing Team, to the Burghley Horse Trials and the Royal Windsor Horse Show. Land Rover’s first foray into the sport of sailing was in 1990 when it sponsored Britain’s largest amateur sailing regatta, Cowes Week, but this is their first step into a global sponsorship of a sailing event.

Since 2007 the Extreme Sailing Series has taken its innovative stadium-style racing format all over the world, attracting some of the world’s best sailors to race on high-performance Extreme 40 catamarans. This significant partnership with Land Rover marks another positive step in the right direction as Mark Turner, Executive Chairman of OC Sport, organiser of the Series, commented: “We are proud that such an iconic brand as Land Rover is committing to the Extreme Sailing Series. This announcement comes at the start of the circuit’s third full global tour and underpins our decision to go ‘global’ in 2011 – just having completed an excellent Act 2 in the iconic city of Singapore, we have no doubt of our strategy being the right one. Land Rover’s commitment, alongside the support of our other sponsors, like our technical partner SAP, demonstrates the commercial appeal of the circuit and shows that we can deliver a great return on investment back to our partners at both team and event level. We are confident that with Land Rover’s involvement we can build on the successes of this Series as we continue to innovate, reaching out to new audiences, and visiting new territories.”