Following on from the Sultanate of Oman and mainland China, tomorrow’s backdrop for the Extreme Sailing Series will be Turkey. The fabulous city of Istanbul is playing host to the third act of the season.

For five days, the 11 competing crews will do battle on this unique race zone, that can best be described as complicated. Indeed it’s between the European side of the modern and the ancient city, on the Golden Horn (an estuary of the Bosphorus), that the latest rounds of nautical jousting will take place.

Edmond de Rothschild, helmed by Pierre Pennec, is leading the 2011 championship. The four men are being closely tailed by two crews – the New Zealand team skippered by Dean Barker and the Italians on Luna Rossa.