Latest news with #GilesScott
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Flying Canadians hold slender SailGP lead over Aussies
Canada have taken top spot but are being stalked by Australia after day one of the fifth round of the SailGP season. Canadian skipper Giles Scott steered his team to a narrow win over France in Saturday's fourth race on breezy San Francisco Bay. Fresh off last week's win in Los Angeles, Canada overcame a slow start in the opening race, where they finished fifth, to take the win in two of the next three races and clinch 35 points atop the weekend's standings. The three-times champion Australians trail Canada by three points after 2-3-3-4 race results. "Fifth is not where we want to finish in every race but it was a solid start as well. We had a really good day today," said Scott. .@SailGPFRA understood the assignment 🧑🎨#SailGP — SailGP (@SailGP) March 22, 2025 "The first start was particularly a tricky one with the whole fleet at the top of the box. "We didn't change too much in terms of our approach, just working that time and trying to do the best with the gaps that were given." In third place after day one are Spain, who won the third race, on 29 points. France, winners in the day's opening race, saw their hopes dashed when Quentin Delapierre's crew, after a blistering start in the fourth race, made a costly mistake just metres from victory, ultimately finishing fourth with 23 points. "It was a good finish, quite unfortunate in the last one. I think we started pretty well, except the two middle races," Delapierre said of France's 1-10-8-2 results. "We did a few mistakes and were a bit far overall but nothing done for tomorrow." New Zealand's boat, which won the season-opening leg in Dubai, will head into the second day in fifth place ahead of championship leaders Britain in sixth. The United States had a challenging day, finishing last in the first two races and ninth in the next two, enduring a couple of incidents as they flew off the foils to splash down, on top of outside boundaries and false start penalties. The Danish team were still unable to compete after their catamaran collided with a race marker in the first race in Los Angeles, causing damage. Britain leads the SailGP championship ahead of Australia and New Zealand.
Reuters
23-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Clinical Canada lead the way on day one of SailGP in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO, March 22 (Reuters) - Canada put in a solid performance to take the lead on day one of the fifth round of the SailGP season as skipper Giles Scott steered his team to a narrow win over France in Saturday's fourth race on breezy San Francisco Bay. Fresh off last week's win in Los Angeles, Canada overcame a slow start in the opening race, where they finished fifth, to take the win in two of the next three races and clinch 35 points atop the weekend's standings. "Fifth is not where we want to finish in every race but it was a solid start as well. We had a really good day today," said Scott. "The first start was particularly a tricky one with the whole fleet at the top of the box. We didn't change too much in terms of our approach, just working that time and trying to do the best with the gaps that were given." The three-times champion Australians trailed Canada by three points after 2-3-3-4 race results, while Spain, who won the third race, finished third on 29 points. France, winners in the day's opening race, saw their hopes dashed when Quentin Delapierre's crew, after a blistering start in the fourth race, made a costly mistake just metres from victory, ultimately finishing fourth with 23 points. "It was a good finish, quite unfortunate in the last one. I think we started pretty well, except the two middle races," Delapierre said of France's 1-10-8-2 results. "We did a few mistakes and were a bit far overall but nothing done for tomorrow." New Zealand's boat, which won the season-opening leg in Dubai, will head into the second day in fifth place ahead of championship leaders Britain in sixth. The United States had a challenging day, finishing last in the first two races and ninth in the next two, enduring a couple of incidents as they flew off the foils to splash down, on top of outside boundaries and false start penalties. The Danish team were still unable to compete after their catamaran collided with a race marker in the first race in Los Angeles, causing damage that ruled them out of last week's race.
New York Times
17-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Canada wins Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix as favored rivals falter
LOS ANGELES — 'Yes we CAN!' And yes they did. The Canadians' victory at the Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix was good news not only for Giles Scott's quietly efficient team, but for all the underdogs in the 12-boat fleet. Heading into the three-boat final, a winner-takes-all race lasting barely eight minutes, most experts would have picked New Zealand or Australia to take the title in L.A. Advertisement And yet that would be unfair to Canada, which nearly won on Australia's Sydney Harbour a few weeks earlier. On that occasion, Scott's team gave away the lead through a slight tactical misjudgment, opening the door for Great Britain to seize the moment and grab the win. This time the Canadians left it to their more experienced rivals to make uncharacteristic errors. Australia's Tom Slingsby — the most experienced F50 driver on the tour — has been nailing his starts, hitting the line at pace and scoring top of the stats at the previous two events in Auckland and Sydney. But on Sunday, the Aussies' starting prowess evaporated in the L.A. sunshine, particularly in the final, when the 'Flying Roos' fell off the hydrofoils and massively mistimed their run into the start line. New Zealand narrowly led Canada out of the start, both F50s foiling at speed towards Mark One. Australia was left far behind, dead in the water, struggling to summon the pace to hop onto the hydrofoils. While Saturday's four fleet races had been a full-on, high-speed blast around the racetrack, Sunday's much softer breeze made it extremely challenging for the F50s to get up on to the hydrofoils. And even when they did manage to get foiling, every maneuver was fraught with risk, far too easy to fall off the foils as your rivals flew by. Winners are grinners 😊#LosAngelesSGP #SailGP — SailGP (@SailGP) March 17, 2025 With the wind in such short supply, the race committee ordered all teams to leave two of their crew on the dock. Reducing personnel from six to four takes weight out of the boat and increases the likelihood of getting the F50 foiling in marginal conditions. However, reducing the crews also forced the four remaining team members to take on a much greater workload. While there is usually a dedicated flight controller managing the smooth passage above the water's surface, on Sunday the driver had to manage the flying as well as the driving. Small wonder it's so hard to keep these delicate craft in the air on a fickle day of soft wind. Advertisement New Zealand held a lead over Canada on the first downwind leg, until it rode up a little too high and its foil lost grip with the water, allowing Canada to rally. Finishing second to the Canadians after some costly errors, Peter Burling said: 'We had one big vent [ventilation and loss of control on the hydrofoil] which cost us about 100 meters on the upwind leg, which is a real shame. If I could do it all again, there's a few things I'd do slightly differently, but really happy nonetheless.' While Australia, winner of the first three seasons of SailGP, made a big mistake on the start line, and New Zealand, the dominant performer across Season 4, made mistakes on the race course, Canada kept its errors to a minimum. The Canadians not only achieved the highest speed of the day at 51.07 kmph, but also the best flight time in the final, successfully keeping above the water for 99 percent of the eight-minute race. Flying high on Super Sunday 🤩 Your @emirates fly-time for day two of the #LosAngelesSGP went the way of @sailgpcan 🇨🇦 — SailGP (@SailGP) March 17, 2025 Scott should feel proud of the flight time statistic. A double Olympic gold medalist in the slow singlehanded dinghy called the Finn, the British driver of the Canadian team knows he's still playing catchup on rival drivers like Slingsby and Burling, who have clocked up more 'air miles' on these flying F50s than anyone. 'Having to run the flight control on a day like today, it's something that I'm still getting my head around,' said Scott. 'It's no surprise that the drivers who have been in the league the longest are the most comfortable flying the boat on a marginal foiling day. The biggest priority on a day like today is staying fast and staying on the foil.' SailGP CEO Russell Coutts has said it is important for the underdogs to show they can compete, and he emphasized that on Sunday. Advertisement 'The Canadians have been improving all season,' he said. 'They came close in Australia and they finally got the victory here. Fantastic result, thoroughly deserved it, beating two high-quality teams in Australia and New Zealand. So well done, Canada.' Despite Sunday's result, Britain still tops the overall championship standings after four of 13 events in Season 5. The Brits' lead, however, is down to just two points ahead of second-place Australia, with New Zealand rising to third in the rankings. Canada improved to fifth overall, just a point behind the Season 4 champions from Spain, who had a lackluster weekend. Scott sounds quietly confident that the best is yet to come from Canada. 'We're on a trajectory, we're learning, we're getting better every day.' (Photo courtesy of Jed Jacobsohn for SailGP.
Reuters
17-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Canada move past New Zealand and Australia to win Los Angeles SailGP
LOS ANGELES, March 16 (Reuters) - Canada won the fourth round of the SailGP season on Sunday, triumphing over New Zealand and Australia in a hard-fought, light-wind finals race in Los Angeles. The win is the first for skipper Giles Scott since taking the helm of the Canadian boat at the start of the season and was redemption after narrowly missing out on first place in Sydney last month. "It was an amazing performance from the team this weekend - and throughout the season. We had a good one in Sydney and to come here and win is fantastic for the team, I'm so proud of everyone," said Scott. Dylan Fletcher's Britain started the day with a strong performance, winning race five, but finished sixth in race six before bouncing back to win race seven. Although Britain were seemingly set for the final, Tom Slingsby's Australia blocked their path as they won race six and made a late surge up the rankings in race seven, beating the British into the three-boat final by just a single point. "I thought we had a couple of good starts and obviously we got the second one completely wrong in race two, but I'm really proud of my team," Fletcher said. A fiercely contested shootout in the final saw day one leaders New Zealand take the advantage as Canada fell behind and Australia struggled to maintain their foils in the early stages. However, despite lighter winds and a reduced crew of four, Canada's precise boat handling maintained a dominant performance, capitalising on mishaps on both the New Zealand and Australian boats in the latter stages. Britain remain on top of the season standings with Australia and New Zealand following. Defending champions Spain are fourth, while Canada move up to fifth in the championship. The SailGP series continues with its fifth stop in San Francisco on March 22 and 23.
New York Times
13-03-2025
- Climate
- New York Times
New SailGP Teams Must Learn to ‘Fly.' And Quickly.
It's not easy learning to fly. But for new or recently reorganized teams that are competing in SailGP, it's a crucial step to winning races and competing for the season's championship title. SailGP's fifth season features more teams and events than ever, but its fleet of identical F50 catamarans, which can fly above the water on hydrofoils at highway speeds, have a steep learning curve. Sailors say these boats reward experience, especially in high- or low-wind conditions. This creates challenges for newer or less experienced teams, because SailGP closely controls the amount of practice time that teams log on their 50-foot-long F50s. Season 5's first three events had a challenging mix of light air (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) and then stronger winds (Auckland, New Zealand, and Sydney, Australia), but the Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday, could deliver friendlier conditions. According to Chris Bedford, SailGP's official meteorologist, Los Angeles has historically experienced mid-March winds ranging from 9 to 16 knots. Contrast this with Dubai, which delivered winds of about 6 to 11 knots, Auckland (about 12 to 22 knots) and Sydney (about 11 to 19 knots). 'The F50 is in its sweet spot in about 14 to 15 knots and flat water,' said Giles Scott, an Olympic double gold medalist and the new driver of the Canadian-flagged NorthStar SailGP Team. 'If it is in that sweet spot, it's going to be full-on,' he said of the Los Angeles event. 'It's going to be competitive.' If this happens, it could help less experienced teams by delivering a playing field that's less reliant on teams' depth of F50 experience. 'I think it makes the boat a lot easier to sail and to race,' said Russell Coutts, SailGP's chief executive and a five-time America's Cup winner. He explained that sailors did not have to make as many adjustments to the settings of their boats in steady winds. 'Maybe they might get one event where it's moderate winds and smooth water.' But even in moderate conditions, racing F50s is challenging. 'They're one of the fastest boats out there,' said Martine Grael, a double Olympic gold medalist and the driver of the Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team, which joined the league for Season 5. 'Things happen really fast.' Grael, who is SailGP's first and only female driver, described F50s as technical boats. 'We intentionally make the boats hard to sail, complex to sail, because they're meant to be a test for the best [sailing] athletes in the world,' Coutts said. 'If you're any top sports person, you want to test yourself against the best in the world and in equal equipment.' Ruggero Tita, a double Olympic gold medalist and the driver of the Red Bull Italy SailGP Team, which also joined the league for Season 5, agreed that F50s could be challenging to race. 'Every role on the boat is extremely important for the full performance,' Tita said. He likened the experience to assembling a puzzle, where the sailors are the pieces. All roles, he said, must be perfectly aligned and coordinated. This is where experience pays dividends. Erik Heil, a double Olympic bronze medalist and the driver of the Germany SailGP Team presented by Deutsche Bank, which joined the league in Season 4, said that some sailors had years more experience than others on the boats. 'We have quite limited time in these boats to catch up,' Heil said. This presents leadership and team-building challenges. 'We're very much on a bit of a building program with the team,' Scott said of his new squad. 'The biggest challenge has been just a new group of people working together,' he said. While Coutts and Scott said that it was possible for less experienced teams to win races and compete for — or win — the season championship, Scott said his team had a shaky start to its season. At the windy Auckland event, for example, Billy Gooderham, the team's flight controller, who adjusts the boat's hydrofoils, was injured. As a result, the team didn't compete in three of the event's seven fleet races. While Coutts said the Canadian team was working to add depth to their backup sailors, other teams were still working on advancing the skills of their primary crew members. This is where big data can ease the learning curve. F50s are fitted with 125 sensors that capture about 53 billion data points, across all 12 boats, per race day. This data is transmitted to an Oracle-run cloud, where it's available to the teams. 'All the data is centralized,' Coutts said. Teams can interrogate the data using Oracle's artificial intelligence to produce data-driven insights on what their competitors are doing. 'It is incredibly powerful,' Coutts said, adding that SailGP uses this data and Oracle's A.I. to detect any anomalies in the boats' electronics and hydraulics to ensure equality among the fleet. In addition to shared data, SailGP has two full-scale simulators. 'Simulators helped a lot with getting the mechanical process for maneuvers,' Grael said. But Grael and others said there were limitations on how the computer replicates the wind. 'It reaches a limit quite early,' Heil said, noting that while the simulators are great, they're far removed from sailing an F50. Because of this, Heil said that his team instead trained aboard 32-foot catamarans and small, one-person foiling boats, which aren't governed by SailGP training rules, which prohibit teams from training on the F50s outside of officially sanctioned practice days. Transfers are another new way that teams can buy experience. Since last fall, 10 athletes have been transferred between six teams. 'You learn more, and you learn faster, when you've got some key experience around you,' Coutts said. Take the Italian team's acquisition of Kyle Langford, a wing trimmer who helped the Australia SailGP Team win SailGP's first three championship titles. 'He is the only one that is experienced in the boat,' Tita said of Langford. 'He's super important, and he's trying hard to teach us' to quickly become a 'better version of ourselves.' Case in point: The Italian team finished in sixth place at the Auckland event. This was the best result there by any of the new or recently reorganized teams. To address the wide range of conditions that the league races in, SailGP created two sets of hydrofoils and three different wing sails — big ones for light winds, medium-size wings for average conditions and small ones for heavy winds — to best match conditions. Sailors say that while both ends of the wind spectrum are challenging, lighter winds can be more demanding, especially for newer teams. 'One of the biggest things in our sport is like how you can time the takeoffs when you go from displacement sailing into foiling,' Grael said, referring to sailing with one or both of the hulls in the water. This transition requires speed. F50s need to be moving through the water at around 16 to 18 knots — or about 18 to 20 miles per hour — for their hydrofoils to lift the boat out of the water (imagine a plane taking off). Drop below this threshold and boats crash back into the water. This matters greatly because F50s are much faster when they fly above the water on their hydrofoils than when they drag their hulls through it. 'Marginal foiling is what we struggle with,' Heil said, describing conditions between displacement sailing and foiling, and noting that windier conditions are way more natural. Grael might be new to SailGP, but she said she also preferred racing in heavier winds than lighter breezes. 'Very difficult sailing conditions are difficult for everyone,' she said of windy days, adding that experience was more pronounced in light winds. Even if conditions in Los Angeles are ideal, it could be a short-lived reprieve: SailGP's next stop, one week later, is San Francisco. 'That's going to be a windy event, top of the top of the range, probably more than likely,' Coutts said. 'That's not going to be easy.'
