SAILINGA QUESTION mark once again hangs over the future of the Extreme Sailing Series at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week.
In a statement released on Wednesday, East Cowes-based series organisers OC ThirdPole confirmed they had received offers from two other UK venues to host the sailing spectacle.
The British leg of the series has been a popular addition to the Cowes Week action since 2007, with around 72,500 thought to have visited the race village last summer.
But fears that Cowes will lose the event — which first emerged two years ago over a £100,000 venue fee — have now resurfaced after the town was not listed in the eight-round 2012 competition.
Islander Mark Turner, executive chairman of OC ThirdPole, said: "OC ThirdPole has two offers from major UK venues, one of which is likely to be confirmed in the coming days and announced in January. It’s not impossible that we’ll be back in Cowes one way or another next year or in the future; Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week is a great event.
Mr Turner said they would miss Cowes if they moved on, adding: "We’re an East Cowes-based but global business working in 12 countries, so it would be disappointing to see Extreme Sailing Series disappear from our home, along with the economic value it delivers."
He said OC ThirdPole would continue to run other events from its offices, where it employs more than 40 people, and would also continue its involvement in other Cowes Week projects.
Stuart Quarrie, chief executive of Cowes Week Ltd, which organises the Cowes Week regatta, said: "We are working as closely as we can with them and even if there wasn’t an Extreme Sailing Series in Cowes, we would hope there would be some Extreme 40s doing demonstration racing, plus there would be scope for the Cowes Week fleet to come inshore along the green, and that would please our sailors and a lot of spectators."