Drama with Spanish SailGP Team

San Francisco, CA (March 24, 2022) – Phil Robertson (NZL) will not drive Spain’s F50 in San Francisco on March 26-27 having officially left the team today.

Robertson, who was due to leave the Spanish team at the end of Season 2 to join Canada, has departed early and will be replaced at the wheel by Barcelona native Jordi Xammar for the Mubadala United States Sail Grand Prix and all future events.

Robertson drove the Chinese boat in Season 1 before his move to Spain for Season 2, and he has them in fourth place heading into the Grand Final in San Francisco.

Speaking upon the announcement of Robertson’s departure from the team, Spain SailGP Team CEO María del Mar de Ros said: “The thing is that Phil, he feels he is superior in some sort of way, and that they [the crew] are kids.

“Maybe if he felt more cohesion with the rest of the team, the decision would have been a bit different.

“We love having a Spanish team, because the purpose of the team has always been to develop youth, the sailing industry, and Spain.

“But, of course, we have to focus on performance as well, and this race is going to be a special one.”

Robertson, who will now watch the event from the sidelines, added: “We took this team from zero experience to somewhere near the top of the leaderboard, and unfortunately the team has decided that they want to focus on next year and move on.”

SailGP information – San Francisco details – Facebook

How to watch – Results – Noticeboard – SailGP Insights

SailGP Season Championship (after 7 events)
1. Australia, 55 pts
2. United States, 53 pts
3. Japan, 51 pts
4. Spain, 43 pts
5. New Zealand, 42 pts
6. Great Britain, 41 pts
7. Denmark, 38 pts
8. France, 35 pts

Format for SailGP events:
• Teams compete in identical F50 catamarans.
• Each event runs across two days.
• There are three races on each day, totaling six races at each event.
• The opening five fleet races involve every team.
• Race scoring provides 8 points for first, 7 points for second, etc.
• The final race in each event pits the three highest ranking teams against each other to be crowned event champion.
• The season ends with the Grand Final, which includes the Championship Final Race for the top three teams from the season ranking for a winner-takes-all match race for the $1m prize.

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
December 17-18, 2021 – Australia Grand Prix – Sydney
January 29-30, 2022 – New Zealand Grand Prix – Christchurch (CANCELLED)
March 26-27, 2022 – United States Grand Prix – San Francisco (Season 2 Grand Final)
*Subject to change

2021-22 Teams, Helm
Australia, Tom Slingsby
Denmark, Nicolai Sehested
France, Quentin Delapierre
Great Britain, Ben Ainslie (alternate – Paul Goodison)
Japan, Nathan Outteridge
New Zealand, Peter Burling (alternate – Arnaud Psarofaghis)
Spain, Jordi Xammar
United States, Jimmy Spithill

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 race.

Source: SailGP