A HOST of Hampshire's elite sailors will go head to head in pursuit of glory as the second round of the Extreme Sailing Series kicks off in Qingdao, China.

Hamble racer Pete Greenhalgh will be looking to avenge his team Oman Air's last-minute defeat by Lymington sailor Richard Mason's SAP Extreme Sailing Team in the opening regatta of the season when racing resumes tomorrow.

In the meantime Hampshire-based crew Land Rover BAR Academy will be aiming to climb the leaderboard after a slow start to the season, finishing eighth from nine teams in the curtain-raiser in Muscat, Oman, last month.

The second event of the eight-date world series sees the fleet head to China's 'Olympic Sailing City' of Qingdao, host of sailing at the 2008 Olympics, where weather conditions are notoriously fickle.

Oman Air skipper Phil Robertson said long-serving crewmember Greenhalgh's experience of conditions in Fushan Bay could prove the secret weapon to the team's success.

Along with teammate Ed Smyth, Greenhalgh has competed in Qingdao every year since the Extreme Sailing Series made its debut in 2011."Qingdao is a totally different beast to Muscat – it can throw anything at you," Robertson said.

"It has a massive reputation as a tricky place to sail and this Act is always a hard event to compete in for that reason. We're expecting anything to come at us.

“The team is extremely experienced and that's vital when you sail in venues like Qingdao.

"Pete and Ed have probably done the most sailing in Qingdao out of the entire fleet and that's a very valuable asset to have onboard.”

Jes Gram-Hansen, skipper of Mason's opening regatta winners SAP Extreme Sailing Team, said his crew would aim to repeat that success in round two.

"We have won in Qingdao before and we are excited to get the opportunity to repeat that this year."

Seven teams will go up against one another from tomorrow until Monday (May 1).