Using sails and hydrofoils, the Australian team outpaced all challengers this year and remains undefeated
Words by LAUREN GOODMAN
The SailGP fleet in action during a practice session with Golden Gate Bridge in the background ahead of the Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final in San Francisco, USA. Friday, May 5, 2023. Photo by Jed Jacobsohn for SailGP.
Nine space-age-looking catamarans literally flew above the waves to this weekend. The Australian team won the last and final winner-takes-all race in the SailGP’s Third Grand Prix, beating New Zealand and Great Britain, in a breakneck 13-minute course. The team’s third win means Australia is undefeated in the history of the event, which started in 2019. “The Aussies haven’t had any crew changes. They are almost telepathic,” commented legendary British sailor Dee Caffari, who sailed around the world solo six times. The victors earned $1 million in prize money with their trophy, plus a Rolex Yacht-Master 42 (the event’s sponsor) for Captain Tom Slingsby.
With the Golden Gate Bridge as a backdrop, the weekend-long event of six races in the San Francisco Bay, was preceded by two practice days. The $10 million state-of-the-art F50s, made exclusively by SailGP, draw their power from carbon fiber wings that are wrapped in light plastic and bigger than those of a 747 jet. These wings, plus ever-updating-titanium hydrofoil technology, account for record nautical speed exceeding 60 miles (100 km) per hour. The boats can move faster than the wind itself—although with precarious balance and consequences. “San Francisco is a hard venue with lots of waves,” Caffari says. “If they don’t do their job, the boat crashes.”
To that end, the sailors who maneuver these floating mechanical innovations are laden with Olympic medals — including Ben Ainslie and Hannah Mills of the British team, the most successful male and female Olympic sailors in history. (The teams, in order of rank for the 12-month season, are Australia, Great Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Switzerland, United States, and Spain.) Athletes compete in teams of six on identical F50 catamarans, all of which are rigorously monitored for advantages or modifications. Only the teams themselves account for the competitive difference.
Tom Slingsby, CEO and driver of Australia SailGP Team, lifts the SailGP Championship Trophy as Sam Newton, grinder of Australia SailGP Team, holds the Rolex after Australia SailGP Team win the Season 3 Season Championship on Race Day 2 of the Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final in San Francisco, USA. Sunday, May 7, 2023. Photo by Felix Diemer for SailGP.
USA SailGP Team helmed by Jimmy Spithill leads Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team helmed by Ben Ainslie toward the Golden Gate Bridge on Race Day 2 of the Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final in San Francisco, USA. Sunday, May 7, 2023. Photo by Felix Diemer for SailGP.
USA SailGP Team helmed by Jimmy Spithill leads Switzerland SailGP Team on Race Day 1 of the Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final in San Francisco, USA. Saturday, May 6, 2023. Photo by Bob Martin for SailGP.
Spectators cheer from the grandstands in the Race Village as Australia SailGP Team helmed by Tom Slingsby to win the final race and the season Championship on Race Day 2 of the Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final in San Francisco, USA. Sunday May 7, 2023. Photo by Loren Elliott for SailGP.
Feature image: Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team helmed by Ben Ainslie sail in the middle of the fleet as the F50 catamarans sail towards the shore line on Race Day 1 of the Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final in San Francisco, USA. Saturday, May 6, 2023. Photo by Bob Martin for SailGP.
May 11, 2023.
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