U.S. SailGP Team reveals new look

With the second season for SailGP to kick off in Bermuda on April 24-25, the U.S. SailGP Team have released this announcement on February 8, 2021:

The United States SailGP Team unveiled details regarding its athlete roster today, beginning with the announcement that it has acquired Andrew Campbell, Cooper Dressler, and Alex Sinclair.

U.S. SailGP Team helm Jimmy Spithill wasted no time in making the pickups, with all three athletes fresh off a three-year campaign with America’s Cup challenger American Magic, which exited the competition just over one week ago.

Spithill, a two-time America’s Cup winner said: “A winning team starts with the people you surround yourself with. Athletes such as Andrew, Cooper, and Alex bring lots of experience to our team and we’re lucky to have them, but we’re not done. We look forward to announcing more team members in the coming weeks.”

The U.S. team will further build out its roster in the coming weeks with the aim of benefiting the sport long-term by creating a competitive and inclusive environment.

Spithill said: “Our goal is to create a roster that is both competitive and represents the sport’s future. A big part of that is changing the top end of the sport to create opportunities for female athletes and we’ve already started to identify several talented women who could complete our roster. In addition to those conversations, we’re excited to also announce that this week we’ll launch an open process for female athletes to apply to join the team.”

Details of the application process will be announced this Thursday, February 11 via the U.S. SailGP Team’s Facebook and Instagram channels.

The new announcements lay down a clear marker of Spithill’s intention to field a highly competitive American team capable of challenging SailGP’s incredibly deep talent pool – which includes Ben Ainslie (GBR), Tom Slingsby (AUS), Peter Burling (NZL) and Nathan Outteridge (JPN) – for the $1 million prize.

Of the team members announced today, Campbell will join the team as one of the most highly respected American athletes in the sport of sailing, bringing a wealth of experience as a tactician. Named by Sports Illustrated as one of Georgetown University’s top-10 athletes, Campbell most recently raced as flight controller onboard American Magic after serving as a tactician for ORACLE TEAM USA alongside Spithill.

Dressler and Sinclair also bring significant skill sets to the program with three America’s Cup campaigns between them.

Campbell said: “I’m excited to not only compete in SailGP but also to contribute to the trajectory of this American team as it looks to the future. When you combine the speed of the F50 with eight teams all featuring incredible talent, fans are in for an epic season.”

The United States SailGP Team will make further announcements in the coming weeks as the anticipation for the start of SailGP Season 2 grows with the Bermuda Grand Prix presented by Hamilton Princess kicking off April 24-25.

Editor’s note: While not mentioned in this release, the team page on the SailGP website lists Rome Kirby as the flight controller. Kirby had previously been CEO and Helm for the team.

SailGP details – Team rosters – Results – How to watch – Facebook

SAILGP SEASON 2 SCHEDULE*
April 24-25, 2021 – Bermuda Grand Prix
June 5-6, 2021 – Italy Grand Prix – Taranto
July 17-18, 2021 – Great Britain Grand Prix – Plymouth
August 20-21, 2021 – ROCKWOOL Denmark Grand Prix – Aarhus
September 11-12, 2021 – France Grand Prix – Saint-Tropez
October 9-10, 2021 – Spain Grand Prix – Andalusia
January 29-30, 2022 – New Zealand Grand Prix – Christchurch
March 26-27, 2022 – United States Grand Prix – San Francisco (Season 2 Grand Final)
*Subject to change

2021-22 Teams
Australia, Tom Slingsby
Denmark, Nicolai Sehested
France, Billy Besson
Great Britain, Ben Ainslie
Japan, Nathan Outteridge
New Zealand, Peter Burling
Spain, Jordi Xammar/ Phil Robertson*
United States, Jimmy Spithill
* Xammar will helm with Season 1 skipper Phil Robertson (NZL) serving in an interim capacity. Details.

Established in 2018, SailGP seeks to be an annual, global sports league featuring fan-centric inshore racing in some of the iconic harbors around the globe. Rival national teams compete in identical F50 catamarans with the season culminating with a $1 million winner-takes-all match race.

Source: SailGP