Hard reset: U.S. SailGP Team looks to correct its Season 3 trajectory in Plymouth

29 JULY 2022News

Tags:

“It’s turnaround time” for the United States SailGP Team according to CEO and Driver Jimmy Spithill, who is eager for this weekend’s racing to begin at the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix | Plymouth.

Coming into the third event of Season 3, Spithill admits it feels a bit like Season 2 déjà vu. At this time last year, the American team sat in the lower half of the overall rankings. But as Spithill points out, the team turned that start into the comeback story of the season, fighting its way back into contention and earning a spot in the Season 2 Grand Final.

Great Britain Sail Grand Prix | Plymouth | Season 3 | Jimmy Spithill | Press Conference

This weekend in Plymouth, he and the team are focused on resetting the Season 3 trajectory. “The beauty of this competition is that we’ve been able to look candidly through all the data and all the footage,” Spithill said.

Following the T-Mobile United States Sail Grand Prix | Chicago at Navy Pier last month, they took a deep dive into the data from the Oracle Cloud, discovering a setting on the team’s F50 software had significantly impacted their maneuverability during day one of racing.

However as Spithill pointed out, “We also didn’t get off the starting line well. A lot of the errors were our own making.”

This weekend’s wind conditions look to be similar to the breezy Saturday in Chicago, and the team’s strategy is to focus on the here and now. “Right now we are focused on today’s practice racing,” Spithill said. “Overall, we want to get out there and take it race by race; just trying to put together a clean, consistent performance this weekend.”

U.S. fans can watch this weekend’s racing live on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 9 a.m. EDT via SailGP’s YouTube channel, with delayed coverage on CBS Sports: Saturday at 3 p.m. EDT, and Sunday at 6 p.m. EDT.