Giles Scott and the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team are second on the leaderboard of the San Francisco Sail Grand Prix after day one of racing in extremely testing conditions. With wind speeds of up to 41kmh, all 10 SailGP teams were pushing their foiling F50 race boats to the limit in a bid to secure a positive result on the water at the Grand Final of Season 4.
Off the water, the British team were announced winners of SailGP’s Impact League and their Podium for the Planet on Friday. A world first, the Impact League tracks the positive actions SailGP teams take to reduce their overall footprint and accelerate inclusivity in sailing. Emirates GBR was highly commended by judges for its work on climate education for youth, renewable energy, gender equity and making the marine industry more inclusive.
© Katelyn Mulcahy for SailGP
Katelyn Mulcahy for SailGP
On day one of racing on Saturday, Scott, Driver of the Emirates GBR F50 and double Olympic Gold medalist, had his first experience of racing with the smallest 18m wing, which is only used in the strongest of winds. Despite the challenging conditions, the British crew managed to secure a result of 6-2-2 in the three fleet races. The team had a tough start to the first race after struggling to find a gap on the congested start line, but managed to make gains on the course to climb from the back of the pack to mid-fleet. In the next two races, Emirates GBR put on a solid performance to hold their own in the chaotic conditions, securing two second place finishes.
While Emirates GBR managed to cruise to second place on the leaderboard after day one, others had a more challenging day. Phil Robertson’s Canadian crew crashed into a finish line marker in their attempts to cut short Denmark in Fleet Race 2. The Canadians now face penalty point deductions for both the event and season. France was the team that came out on top, with Quentin Delapierre steering his team to epic starts in all three races. This leaves the battle for the last spot in the three-boat, $2m Grand Final extremely close between France and Spain.
© Jed Jacobsohn for SailGP
Jed Jacobsohn for SailGP
Scott said San Francisco “definitely delivered on the conditions”.
“It was a full on day out there,” he said.
“We had a few little errors in the first race but apart from that we were solid. We’re happy with how today went and our main focus is signing off the season with a good result here. We’ve had good performances the last couple of events so I’m happy with the progress. I definitely feel like we are on the ride as a team and hopefully we will be one to watch next season.”
© Adam Warner for SailGP
Adam Warner for SailGP
Emirates GBR Strategist Hannah Mills OBE echoed Scott’s positivity on the team’s recent performance, stating it felt like they were on an “upwards trajectory”.
“We are gunning to sign off the season with a great result on the water, especially after winning the Season’s Impact League,” Mills said.
“It was absolutely amazing to be crowned winners, we’ve been trying to win the Impact League since it was created and after finishing in the top three the last two years, it was the best feeling to take the top spot. The whole team is buzzing, we’ve put so much work and effort into some really amazing projects which have made a lot of impact.”
Racing resumes at 22:30 BST on Sunday, with all eyes on who will take home the $2m prize and title of Season 4 Grand Final winners.