SailGP news, US Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman Awards, Vendee Globe finishers
by David Schmidt 11 Feb 16:00 UTC
February 11, 2025
Emirates GBR celebrate their win in the Final - Race Day 2 - KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix - Sydney, Australia - February 9, 2025 © Patrick Hamilton/SailGP
The weather at 48.5719 degrees N, 122.4787 degrees W (Bellingham, Washington) has been unseasonably cold (your editor may describe it as 'miserable' by way of observation, not complaint, of course), but the racing was hot on the waters of Sydney Harbor, where the third event of SailGP's Season 5 calendar unfurled last weekend (February 7 and 8). The breeze was down compared to the recent Auckland event, but SailGP was still able to score seven fleet races and the event Final.
While driver Tom Slingsby and his Australia SailGP Team won three of the seven fleet races and entered the regatta's three-boat last race topping the event leaderboard, driver Dylan Fletcher and his Emirates Great Britain team won the all-important Final. The Brits were joined on the winner's podium by driver Giles Scott and his Canada NorthStar SailGP team, with Slingsby and company settling for third place on their hometown waters.
"Personally, it's massive where we've come - from the start of SailGP in 2019, where I began my journey," said Fletcher in a SailGP communication. "To return and win here is amazing. I'm just really proud of the whole team and how they've included me."
The Finals was also a big race for the Canadian-flagged team.
"We've had an amazing day and are super happy," said Scott in a team communication. "We had a big lead most of the final race, then on the final upwind the Brits picked up shift on right hand side. Amazing effort from the NorthStar team. I'm really happy to get on the podium for the first time as a squad."
While the weekend didn't go as well for the Flying Roo as Slingby and company would have liked, the team is still sitting in second place for the season, just three points astern of Fletcher and his British-flagged team.
"Honestly, the British did a really good tack on us up that first beat," said Slingsby about the Final in a SailGP communication. "Their timing was perfect. We've been sailing so well as a team and have a lot to be proud of. I'm just sorry to the fans. I think everyone thought we were a shoe in, but it didn't quite go our way and that's sport."
Not only was the racing engaging, but this was also a big weekend for SailGP itself, as the league debuted their new and significantly faster T-Foils, which replace the L-Foils that lifted the F50s for the first four seasons of competition.
While the professional sailing series was hoping to see 12 teams racing—which would have been a league first—on the waters near Sydney's famous opera house, the American team suffered a boat-breaking capsize en route to Friday's practice day (they were being towed and the wing was accidentally inverted, causing the boat to flip) that sidelined them for the series. This is their second boat-breaking accident in two seasons, and one that SailGP officials refereed to as having "very similar" root causes.
Worse, the American-flagged team was penalized with 12 event points and 8 season points, which put them at the back of the pack for the Sydney event and—along with the Mubadala Brazil team and the Germany Deutsche Bank team—at the rock bottom of the leaderboard for the season championships.
Meanwhile, much closer to home, the winners of the 2024 US Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman Awards were announced last week, with watches and awards going to Ian Barrows and Hans Henken for their Bronze medal finish in the 49er Class at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and to Cole Brauer for her impressive work in the Global Solo Challenge (she finished second), where she became the first American woman to sail solo and nonstop around the world. (N.B., in full disclosure, your editor is one of the judges.)
"The strength of the 2024 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year nominee classes is a testament to the dedication, talent, and passion that drives our sport forward in America," said Henry Brauer, US Sailing's president, in an official communication. "These sailors have shown extraordinary commitment to excellence, and we deeply appreciate the sailing community for recognizing and nominating them. Their achievements inspire us all and demonstrate the vitality of sailing across the country."
Sail-World congratulates Barrows, Brauer, and Henken on their proud achievements, and we are excited to see where these brilliant sailors take their careers from here.
Finally, the past week has also seen six more singlehanded skippers complete the 2024/2025 edition of the Vendée Globe. Giancarlo Pedote, racing aboard Prysmian completed the course in 85 days, 20 hours, 32 minutes, and 1 second, putting him in 22nd place on the leaderboard.
Pedote was followed across the finishing line by Guirec Soudee, racing aboard Freelance.com (89 days, 20 hours, 16 minutes, and 20 seconds), Kojiro Shiraishi, sailing aboard DMG Mori Global One (90 days, 21 hours, 34 minutes, and 41 seconds), Violette Dorange, sailing aboard Devenir (90 days, 22 hours, 37 minutes, and 9 seconds), Louis Duc, sailing aboard Fives Group—Lantana Envoronment (91 days, 8 minutes, and 48 seconds), and Sebastian Marsset, racing aboard Foussier (91 days, 35 minutes, and 35 seconds).
As of this writing (Monday morning, U.S. West Coast time), Antoine Cornic, sailing aboard Human Immobilier, has about 735 nautical miles separating his bow from the finishing line.
Sail-World congratulates all Vendée finishers for their proud solo circumnavigations, and we have a candle lit that Cornic and the other five still-competing skippers enjoy safe and speedy passages back to Les Sables d'Olonne, France.
May the four winds blow you safely home.
David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor