All eyes on U.S. SailGP Team in Spain

As the USA Team tries to find its footing in the fourth season of the SailGP league, their efforts will be closely watched as they compete on October 14-15 in Cádiz, Spain.

Taylor Canfield, whose involvement in a possible ownership group for the team has been rumored, is now among the crew. The timing is fortuitous as the team’s flight controller, Hans Henken, who was injured at the last event, is away from the team and focused on his recovery for the 2023 Pan Am Games.

“We have steadily been building our results, however, when you lose a key team member due to injury – those hours together are lost as well,” noted skipper Jimmy Spithill.

Canfield is no stranger to the flight controller position, having raced in that role during Season 1 with the U.S. SailGP Team, and also competed with the Spanish team in that role in Season 2, but the the F50s have evolved since then.

“In my mind, the flight controller role is the most difficult on the boat,” said Spithill. “Taylor is jumping back into this role and has been working hard to understand the changes to the position since he first flew the boat in Season 1. He’s a very talented sailor and we’re excited to have him with us and to get out and race.”

As SailGP approaches the halfway point of its 13-event season, the Americans have been steadily progressing toward the top half of the leaderboard, capitalizing on the back-to-back European events in France and Italy with a fifth place in Saint-Tropez and third place in Taranto – the team’s first podium finish of the Season.

Canfield was also with the team in Saint-Tropez, and was intending to take over for Henken after his injury on the first day, but was left off when light winds on day two required teams to drop from six to four crew. With more mild weather forecasted for Cadiz, Canfield may be watching again. Stand by…

Race times on October 14-15 are at 15:30-17:00 CEST (09:30-11:00 EDT)

SailGP information – Spain details – YouTube – How to watch

Season Standings (after four of 13 events; results and total points)
1. Australia (Tom Slingsby), 2-3-2-2; 35points
2. Great Britain (Ben Ainslie), 7-6-1-1; 29
3. Spain (Diego Botin), 5-1-3-6; 29
4. Denmark (Nicolai Sehested), 4-2-4-7; 27
5. New Zealand (Peter Burling), 1-7-8-DNC/6; 23
6. United States (Jimmy Spithill), 9-5-5-3; 22
7. France (Quintin Delapierre), 6-8-6-4; 20
8. Canada (Phil Robertson), 3-4-10-5; 18
9. Switzerland (Sebastien Schneiter), 8-9-9-9; 10
10. Germany (Erik Heil), 10-10-7-8; 6
Notes:
• Canada SailGP Team: Docked four points in Season Championship for eight-point penalty at France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez
• Germany SailGP Team: Docked two points in Season Championship for four-point penalty at Oracle Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix
• New Zealand SailGP Team: Granted six event points for Italy Sail Grand Prix as unable to compete due to wing damage suffered at France Sail Grand Prix.

Season 4 – 2023
June 16-17 – United States Sail Grand Prix | Chicago at Navy Pier
July 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | Los Angeles
September 9-10 – France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez
September 23-24 – Italy Sail Grand Prix | Taranto
October 14-15 – Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía- Cádiz
December 9-10 – Dubai Sail Grand Prix | Dubai*

Season 4 – 2024
January 13-14 – Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix | Abu Dhabi
February 24-25 – Australia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney
March 23-24 – New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland
May 4-5 – Bermuda Sail Grand Prix
June 1-2 – Canada Sail Grand Prix | Halifax
June 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | New York
July 13-14 – SailGP Season 4 Grand Final | San Francisco
* Added October 3, 2023

Format for Season 4:
• Teams compete in identical F50 catamarans.
• Each event runs across two days.
• Up to seven qualifying fleet races of approximately 15 minutes may be scheduled for each regatta.
• The top three teams from qualifying advance to a final race to be crowned event champion and earn the largest share of the $300,000.00 USD event prize money purse that’s divided among the top three teams.
• The season ends with the Grand Final, which includes the Championship Final Race for the top three teams in the season standing with the winner claiming the $1m USD prize.

For competition documents, click here.

Established in 2018, SailGP seeks to be an annual, global sports league featuring fan-centric inshore racing among national teams in some of the iconic harbors around the globe.

Source: USA SailGP