QINGDAO, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Extreme Sailing Series of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) will be held in east China's Qingdao city from April 13 to April 17, announced an official of the local organizing committee Tuesday.

This will be the first time that the sailing event comes to China and 44 professional sailors from 13 countries will participate, said Lin Zhiwei, assistant secretary general of the local organizing committee.

Besides Qingdao, the Extreme Sailing Series will also visit Muscat in Oman, Istanbul in Turkey, Boston in the United States, Cowes in Britain, Trapani in Italy, Nice in France, Almeria in Spain and Singapore, Lin said.

Up to now, a total of 11 teams from Swiss, Sweden, France, New Zealand, Italy, Oman, Austria, UK and Spain have signed up for the sailing series.

The Extreme Sailing Series, launched in 2007, was listed as one of the top four events of the ISAF.

Qingdao, a coastal city of east China's Shandong Province, is the venue of the sailing events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.