The Rolex SailGP Championship returns to Bermuda, with twelve international teams, the exception being the Kiwi Black Foils as they await their new F50 hull following their Auckland wipe-out crash.
Australia’s BONDS Flying Roos are firmly entrenched at the top of the season standings after four events. Following a dominant victory at the Enel Rio Sail Grand Prix last month, Tom Slingsby’s team have a seven point lead.
Second are Dylan Fletcher and Emirates GBR, who managed to finish last in Rio with zero points, and third the refreshed U.S. SailGP Team after their victory in the KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix, and a fourth in Rio.
Spain’s Los Gallos are fourth after taking second to the Aussies in Rio, and fifth Nathan Outteridge and Sweden’s Artemis who also made the Rio final their strongest result of the campaign so far . . . a huge step forward for SailGP’s newest team.
The Rio result marked Outteridge’s first event final since his return to the league, and a strong performance in Bermuda could transform the Swedish squad into a genuine title threat.
This is a major event for the Brits who need to put Rio behind them, whatever the reason for the unexplained melt-down, and come back with at least a top three finish here.
SailGP CEO Russell Coutts admitted, “That was staggering, it wasn’t as though they were just unlucky – they deserved to be in last place.”
Elsewhere, the Black Foils’ early-season struggles, with two major collisions in the space of two events, came as a genuine shock to Coutts, but he expects the Kiwi team to be back, the return now put back to the Canada Halifax Grand Prix, 21 – 22 June. “It won’t be easy for them to put those crashes behind them,” he said.
If they fail to make the Halifax event then Portsmouth UK event on 26–27 July, marking the start of the European leg will be the next possibility.
The Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix returns to Bermuda this weekend 9 and 10 May, with racing from 14:00 hrs local time.
For British fans the racing starts at 18:00 hrs on both days and will be reported here.
Emirates GBR Team for Bermuda:
Driver: Dylan Fletcher
Wing trimmer: Stuart Bithell
Flight controller: Luke Parkinson
Grinder: Nick Hutton
Grinder: Neil Hunter
Strategist: Hannah Mills
Reserve strategist: Eleanor Aldridge
Data analyst: Nick Robinson
Data analyst: Ben Cornish
Coach: Robbie Wilson
