Jimmy Spithill: Nearly got there

For the United States SailGP Team, it was one thing after another during Season 2. If they weren’t getting crashed into, they were crashing into submerged objects. They had to replace their wing trimmer when he snapped his fibula.

Yet, they still were in position to win it all, and while they fell short at the final hurdle in San Francisco on March 26-27, skipper Jimmy Spithill looks back at SailGP Season 2 and ahead to Season 3:

The final day of SailGP Season 2 pretty much summed up our whole year, in just a few crazy hours.

We knew going into the US$1m bucks, winner-takes-all final SailGP race in San Francisco, that there would be some unpredictable drama in store – but even I was surprised by what took place in the Bay this weekend.

In the first race on the final day, just an hour before the biggest showdown of the season, we were taken out by Spain SailGP Team, who crashed into us and it left a huge hole in the back of our boat.

It was a challenging situation for the Japanese, Aussies, and ourselves – we all wanted to race hard and push in preparation for the final in the lead-up races, but couldn’t afford a major incident… well, we were almost taken out and not able to race the final.

Despite the drama, as long as the boat was still floating, not sailing in the final race was never an option for us. So, we sat out the last fleet race as our shore team swung into action, removed the broken stern from the boat and effected repairs. It was true NASCAR style! What an incredible job they did in a short amount of time, under huge pressure.

As we have seen all season in SailGP, this is like motor racing, when you’re traveling at these speeds, with this amount of boats – that’s racing. I’m glad everyone walked away uninjured – and our shore team did an incredible job to get the boat race ready, and able to race the final.

Also, I want to make a special mention to Jordi Xammar, driver of the Spanish boat, who came up after and spoke to me and showed a lot of sportsmanship. He is a real star of the future and an amazing talent.

I would like to give full credit to the Aussies, who took the win and have been the benchmark team all year in this insanely talented fleet of athletes. To go back-to-back in a league as relentless and tough as this is really impressive, and it’s no surprise to me that they have been crowned champions for a second time. Well done.

I’m positive about our first season as a team and proud of everyone involved who really put everything into it. When we took over the team at the beginning of the season, it had just come off finishing last in Season 1, so for this new group to come in and get a shot at the title is a great statement in its first year together.

If you haven’t seen the footage from our training before the event, you really need to check it out. We had Kai Lenny and Jamie O’Brien come down for a rip around San Francisco Bay, and they got to see exactly what SailGP is all about. Kai even caught the perfect angle of our capsize on his camera.

Some water got into our electronics and the systems failed during a maneuver. When sailing these boats, a capsize is always a possibility, and again great work to our shore team for getting us back on our feet and sailing a few minutes later.

Kai is probably the best waterman in the world and Jamie is one of the best riders at Pipeline. If you’ve ever seen the footage of those guys riding at places like Nazaré, Waimea Bay, and some of the hairy situations they get themselves into, then you’ll know that for them to come out on the boat and say that was absolutely crazy, intense and they’ve never experienced anything like it, is pretty big.

I think it gives the sport of sailing – and SailGP – some real credibility.

As we end our first season in SailGP on the podium, I’m just really proud of this crew. It’s been one hell of a season, and a lot of fun, but I really feel this team is only just getting started and I can’t wait for Season 3.

Also a HUGE thank you to all of the United States SailGP Team fans who came out, filled the grandstands and lined the shore to make our first home event an unforgettable one. It was literally like sailing in a Grand Stand… we couldn’t believe the noise coming from the fans when we raced by the bleachers and the number of messages we got was unbelievable.

CAN’T WAIT FOR SEASON 3.

MORE: Relive the San Francisco event with photos from Louis Kruk: click here

San Francisco Results
1. Australia, Tom Slingsby, 2-4-3-2-1, 33
2. Great Britain, Ben Ainslie, 1-6-4-3-2, 29
3. Japan, Nathan Outteridge, 6-2-1-6-4, 26
4. Denmark, Nicolai Sehested, 4-1-6-7-5, 22
5. New Zealand, Peter Burling, 3-5-8-1-3*, 21
6. United States, Jimmy Spithill, 5-7-5-5-DNC, 14
7. France, Quentin Delapierre, 7-8-7-4-6, 13
8. Spain, Jordi Xammar, 8-3-2-DNF-DNC, 9
* Four penalty points added due to foul with France

Final Results – SailGP Season 2 Championship (8 events)
1. Australia, Tom Slingsby, 85
2. Japan, Nathan Outteridge, 77
3. United States, Jimmy Spithill, 74
4. Great Britain, Ben Ainslie (alternate – Paul Goodison), 50
5. New Zealand, Peter Burling (alternate – Arnaud Psarofaghis), 47
6. Denmark, Nicolai Sehested, 45
7. Spain, Jordi Xammar (alternate – Phil Robertson), 43
8. France, Quentin Delapierre, 39

SailGP information – San Francisco details – Crew lists

How to watch – Results – Noticeboard – SailGP Insights

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)

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.