SailGP: Gearing up for St. Tropez

Saint-Tropez could host the comeback of Quentin Delapierre’s French team after a shaky start to Season 4. The 10-strong F50 fleet will next meet for battle on the waters of Saint-Tropez when the France Sail Grand Prix gets underway on September 9-10, 2023.

SailGP commentators Todd Harris, Stevie Morrison and Emily Nagel have said they would be closely watching Delapierre’s team, which had a strong event in Saint-Tropez last season, finishing in 4th and setting a new speed record of 99.94 km/h in front of home fans.

Despite an impressive Season 3, Delapierre’s team currently sit 8th on the overall leaderboard after lukewarm performances in both Chicago and Los Angeles. Morrison pointed to the light wind conditions of both venues, which seemed to prove especially challenging for the French. “Light winds don’t give a lot of opportunity for the boat handling and team work that the French are known for,” he said.

Season 3’s event in Saint-Tropez saw extreme conditions on either end of the spectrum. Winds blew to over 40 km/h on the first day of racing before falling to non-foiling conditions on day two. This, Nagel said, proves that ‘you never know what conditions you’ll get in Saint-Tropez until you’re there.” But she said the team’s strong performance on home waters last season, paired with their local knowledge, could set the stage for a Season 4 comeback.

Harris agreed, but said the team would have to take it ‘race by race’ and ‘just focus on being consistent’. “If the winds are up, they can get their speed and their confidence back up,” he said.

Morrison also pointed to the additional pressure of performing in front of home fans. “The fact that it’s a home event will be huge for them – we’re definitely early on in the season, so for any team there’s a lot of opportunity.” Following their 4th place finish in Saint Tropez, France went on to win their first ever event in Cadiz, repeating the triumph in Sydney.

Morrison said the confidence gained by these past two wins would be crucial. “The good thing for the French is that they’ve won an event before, so they know it can be done.”

Ahead of the event, the crew and substitution line-ups for each team have been revealed. Here’s who will be racing in Saint-Tropez.

Australia SailGP Team
Driver: Tom Slingsby
Wing Trimmer: Kyle Langford
Flight Controller: Jason Waterhouse
Grinder: Kinley Fowler
Grinder: Sam Newton
Reserve: Ed Powys
Strategist: Tash Bryant
Coach: Ben Durham

Canada SailGP Team
Driver: Phil Robertson
Wing Trimmer: Chris Draper
Flight Controller: Billy Gooderham
Grinder: Tom Ramshaw
Grinder: Tim Hornsby
Reserve Grinder: Jake Lilley
Strategist: TBC
Coach: Joe Glanfield

ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team
Driver: Nicolai Sehested
Wing Trimmer: Tom Johnson
Flight Controller: Rasmus Køstner
Grinder: Julius Hallström
Grinder: Hans-Christian Rosendahl
Grinder: Richard Mason
Strategist: Katja Salskov-Iversen
Coach: Chris Nicholson

France SailGP Team
Driver: Quentin Delapierre
Wing Trimmer: Kevin Peponnet
Flight Controller: TBC
Grinder: Matthieu Vandame
Grinder: Timothe Lapauw
Grinder: Olivier Herledant
Strategist: Amélie Riou
Coach: Thierry Douillard

Germany SailGP Team
Driver: Erik Heil
Wing Trimmer: Stuart Bithell
Flight Controller: James Wierzbowski
Grinder: Dan Morris
Grinder: Jonathan Knottnerus-Meyer
Grinder: Joseph Sullivan
Strategist: Kahena Kunze
Coach: Lennart Breisenick

Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team
Driver: Ben Ainslie
Wing Trimmer: Iain Jensen
Flight Controller: Luke Parkinson
Grinder: Nick Hutton
Grinder: Neil Hunter
Reserve Sailor: Matthew Gotrel
Strategist: Hannah Mills
Reserve Strategist: Hannah Diamond
Reserve Driver: Giles Scott
Coach: Rob Wilson

New Zealand SailGP Team
Driver: Peter Burling
Wing Trimmer: Blair Tuke
Flight Controller: Andy Maloney
Grinder: Josh Junior
Grinder: Marcus Hansen
Grinder: Louis Sinclair
Strategist: Jo Aleh
Coach: Ray Davies

Spain SailGP Team
Driver: Diego Botin
Wing Trimmer: Florian Trittel
Flight Controller: Joel Rodriguez
Grinder / Tactician: Joan Cardona
Grinder: Bernardo Freitas
Grinder: Stewart Dodson
Strategist: Nicole van der Velden
Coach: Simone Salva

Switzerland SailGP Team
Driver: Sébastien Schneiter
Wing Trimmer: Will Ryan
Flight Controller: TBC
Grinder: Jérémy Bachelin
Grinder: Julien Rolaz
Grinder: Eliot Merceron
Strategist: Maud Jayet
Flight Control / Grinder / Strategist: Laurane Mettraux
Coach: Jacopo Plazzi

United States SailGP Team
Driver: Jimmy Spithill
Wing Trimmer: Paul Campbell-James
Flight Controller: Hans Henken
Grinder: Peter Kinney
Grinder: Alex Sinclair
Grinder: Mac Agnese
Strategist: Erika Reineke
Coach: Philippe Presti

SailGP information – YouTube – How to watch

Season Standings (after two of 12 events; results and total points)
1. Australia (Tom Slingsby), 2-3; 17 points
2. Spain (Diego Botin), 5-1; 16
3. Denmark (Nicolai Sehested), 4-2; 16
4. Canada (Phil Robertson), 3-4; 15
5. New Zealand (Peter Burling), 1-7; 14
6. Great Britain (Ben Ainslie), 7-6; 9
7. United States (Jimmy Spithill), 9-5; 8
8. France (Quintin Delapierre), 6-8; 8
9. Switzerland (Sebastien Schneiter), 8-9; 5
10. Germany (Erik Heil), 10-10; 0

Season 4 – 2023
June 16-17 – Rolex 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

Season 4 – 2024
January 13-14 – UAE Sail Grand Prix | Venue to be announced
February 24-25 – KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney
March 23-24 – ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland
May 4-5 – Bermuda Sail Grand Prix
June 1-2 – Canada Sail Grand Prix | Venue to be announced
June 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | New York
July 13-14 – SailGP Season 4 Grand Final | San Francisco

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.

Beginning with its first season in 2019, 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: SailGP