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by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
The anticipated conditions for the Dubai Sail Grand Prix event on December 9-10 were said to be ideal for less-experienced teams. This had mostly to do with the flat water, which is easier for foiling boats, and would offer a soft landing for the newly rebuilt United States SailGP Team.
When you have a helm that had never helmed an F50 (Taylor Canfield), a wing trimmer that had never trimmed a wing (Victor Diaz de Leon), a flight controller that had never flight controlled (Mac Agnese), and a strategist that was new to the F50 (Sara Stone), easier is good.
The new ownership group for the US team had brought in a fresh line-up, though retained grinders Alex Sinclair and Peter Kinney. While the absence of Australian Jimmy Spithill (helm) and Brit Paul Campbell James (wing trimmer) is hard to replace, those two also were not Americans, and it is a focus of the new regime to change that.
How did it go? Probably as well as expected, finishing 8th out of ten teams. The conditions were lighter than ideal, which put the team in situations they hadn’t practiced much for, like sailing with reduced crew or managing the largest 29m wing. But there were some highlights too.
Races are won with good starts, and the US team had their share of good starts. Problem was they would slip back in the fleet through inexperience elsewhere, but put it all together in the final race to finish third. They even flexed their muscles on that start, closing the door on a barging British team which led to their disqualification.
“It’s so energizing to finish our first event as a team with a third place in that final race,” said Canfield. “I’m proud of our entire team. We’ve come a long way in a very short period of time. We have more work to do, but this weekend showed we have the ability to compete at the top of the fleet.”
Overall, the USA beat Spain, which won the Los Angeles event, and the Germans which joined the league for the fourth season which started in June 2023.
Added new coach Mark Ivey, “This is great momentum for the new team as it is already looking ahead to Abu Dhabi in one month’s time. We have more work to do around on-board communication, timing, and of course execution, but it feels great to leave Dubai on a positive note.”
SailGP information – Dubai details – YouTube – How to watch
Dubai Final Results
1. New Zealand (Peter Burling), 6-2-4-2-4-(1), 37 points
2. Australia (Jimmy Spithill), 3-1-3-4-8-(2), 36
3. Canada (Phil Robertson), 1-3-8-7-1-(3), 35
4. France (Quintin Delapierre), 2-4-7-5-2, 35
5. Great Britain (Ben Ainslie), 5-7-1-1-10, 30
6. Denmark (Nicolai Sehested), 4-5-10-3-5, 28
7. Switzerland (Sebastien Schneiter), 7-6-6-6-6, 24
8. United States (Taylor Canfield), 8-9-9-9-3, 17
9. Germany (Erik Heil), 9-10-5-8-7, 15
10. Spain (Diego Botin), 19-8-2-10-9, 15
Season Standings (after six of 13 events; results and total points)
1. Australia (Tom Slingsby/Jimmy Spithill), 2-3-2-2-3-2; 52 points
2. Denmark (Nicolai Sehested), 4-2-4-7-2-6; 41
3. New Zealand (Peter Burling), 1-7-8-DNC/6-4-1; 40
4. Great Britain (Ben Ainslie), 7-6-1-1-8-5; 38
5. United States (Jimmy Spithill/Taylor Canfield), 9-5-5-3-1-8; 35
6. Spain (Diego Botin), 5-1-3-6-6-10; 33
7. Canada (Phil Robertson), 3-4-10-5-5-3; 32
8. France (Quintin Delapierre), 6-8-6-4-7-4; 31
9. Switzerland (Sebastien Schneiter), 8-9-9-9-7; 15
10. Germany (Erik Heil), 10-10-7-8-9-10-9; 10
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