Latest news with #SailGPF50
Straits Times
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
SailGP hopes to hook new fans with 'Uncharted' docuseries
FILE PHOTO: SailGP F50 team Canada competes in front of the Statue of Liberty after the start of the finals race during the SailGP sailboat racing event won by team New Zealand in New York Harbor, New York City, U.S. June 23, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo NEW YORK - SailGP announced its first-ever docuseries on Tuesday, with the three-part project "Uncharted" focusing on Red Bull Italy SailGP CEO Jimmy Spithill, who is leading the team through their inaugural season. SailGP is the global sailing championship featuring national teams competing in identical, high-performance F50 foiling catamarans that can reach speeds of over 50 knots (93 kph). The league co-founded by billionaire entrepreneur Larry Ellison hopes to convert a new generation of fans amid ongoing growth in both attendance and television viewership, with big name sponsors lining up over the six years since its launch. "As an emerging league, content development is super important to us," said Melissa Lawton, the SailGP Chief Content Officer, who has been charged with ramping up the league's entertainment arm. "It's central to building our brand around the world and breaking down barriers of entry into sailing as sport." "Uncharted" launches next month amid a surge of popularity for sports documentaries, boosted by Formula One's "Drive to Survive," that helped develop a new crop of American fans. SailGP has drawn natural comparisons with Formula One and found its charismatic hero of the docuseries in Spithill, the former U.S. SailGP Team driver who has become one of the sport's most decorated athletes after winning the America's Cup at just 30 years of age. "These boats are very, very fast and very unstable. And if you put them at the wrong angle or have any kind of equipment failure, anything could go wrong," Ellison said in the documentary. "These boats even end up, upside down. Some of the athletes succumb to the pressure, but not Jimmy. He was much more formidable than I ever realized." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Reuters
10-02-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Britain's Fletcher signals America's Cup intentions with first SailGP win
LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Dylan Fletcher had points to prove as well as to notch up on the leaderboard with his first event win as Britain's SailGP skipper at the weekend in Sydney, not least showing he could do it 'flying solo'. Ben Ainslie, who led Britain's most successful America's Cup campaign but was ultimately defeated by holders New Zealand in Barcelona last year, first picked Fletcher as co-helm for that event and then entrusted him with the wheel of his SailGP F50. "As much as last year was fantastic, it was always with Ben Ainslie on the other side (of the boat). So this is me ... helming on my own. And so I think it's important to put that marker in the sand," Fletcher said after victory in Australia. He clinched his first SailGP win by narrowly beating Giles Scott, who moved to skipper Canada's team after Ainslie picked his former teammate over him for the America's Cup, and home-water favourites Australia, skippered by Tom Slingsby. "I'm just here trying to win SailGP and to be in the best position for the America's Cup because I obviously believe ... I can helm the British campaign to victory in the America's Cup. And there's obviously no way of better proving that than winning SailGP in one-design (catamarans)," Fletcher told Reuters. The 36-year-old added that while uncertainty over Britain's next America's Cup campaign sparked by a split between billionaire Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS and Ainslie's Athena Racing was "probably not the best scenario", SailGP offered an opportunity to show he could perform against the sport's best. "Distracting in some respects, but also once you get out there on the racecourse, those things are a long way away," Fletcher said of the America's Cup rift, which has left big questions hanging over Britain's challenge and the event. POETIC JUSTICE While Ainslie may no longer be on deck with his team, Fletcher said the most successful Olympic sailor is very much hands-on, offering long-range support, advice and in-person debriefs on racing their high-tech foiling F50 catamaran. "I'll pick up the phone and talk to Ben and see what he thinks, because he's got so much experience within SailGP ... it's really great to lean on him and get him involved," Fletcher said of how the 48-year-old is never far from the action. One Olympic sailor alongside Fletcher is Hannah Mills, who is gaining SailGP experience in the key strategist role to achieve her ambition of becoming a 'driver', as she champions equal representation for women in the sport. "I really feel as though Hannah and I are gelling together really well in our communication styles ... it seems to be working well, fingers crossed we can continue to build on that," Fletcher said of how they are aiming for more wins. "I know that we've got a long way to go to be in that place where we're consistently delivering in the final," he said, adding that he had been "very frustrated" not to have topped the podium in the first two events of this season. Between now and the next SailGP series events in March, Fletcher, who moved to Barcelona following the America's Cup experience, is taking delivery of a new 'Moth' foiling dinghy. "I don't like to take my foot off the gas. So I'm going to get into that and keep myself busy and try to develop my skills, ultimately for the America's Cup," Fletcher said, adding that it felt as if there was some poetic justice for the team in the Sydney win given "everything that's going on".
