New Zealand builds on Season 2 success by topping Impact League leaderboard in Bermuda

New Zealand have built on their Season 2 Impact League triumph by once again topping the leaderboard at the Bermuda Sail Grand Prix presented by Hamilton Princess.

The team, which is led by co-CEOs Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, triumphed with 171 points, while Denmark followed hot on their heels with 170. Phil Robertson’s new team Canada meanwhile came in third with 167 points in their first ever SailGP event.

Speaking about the results, Canada athlete Isabella Bertold said she was 'delighted' the team had placed in the top three but would be pushing her fellow athletes 'out of their comfort zones' in pursuit of first place.

“We need the athletes actually bought into the Impact League rather than just thinking of it as a box they need to check. We want them to be excited to be contributing to the projects on the innovation side and, hopefully, coming up with ideas on how to reduce our impact as a team.”

Canada SailGP Team CEO Jean-Sébastien Chénier Proteau added: “Inspiring the next generation to drive positive change is part of our ethos. Finishing third in our first event is a great start, and well in line with our desire to make sailing a better sport and a better planet.”

The total prize money of $25K will be divided between the three top teams and donated to their partners. New Zealand is awarded $13K for their partner Live Ocean, Denmark picks up $7K for One Ocean Foundation and Canada is handed $5K for Ocean Wise.

As the winning team, New Zealand is also awarded a Golden Crane Ticket - an on-water advantage new to the Impact League this season. The Impact League winner of each event is granted an opportunity to adjust their crane slot assignment to suit their team’s schedule and ultimately allow for more time on the water to train.

The Impact League is measured across 10 criteria, including travel and accommodation, food, and diversity, equality and inclusion, which are aligned to SailGP’s targets to reduce its carbon footprint by 55%.

During the Bermuda Sail Grand Prix, Denmark used the least amount of fuel, followed by Great Britain and Spain, while France consumed the lowest amount of energy at its team base.

Spain topped the waste leaderboard, sending just 80.8lbs of rubbish to landfill, followed by New Zealand, with 81.3lbs, and Switzerland, with 84.1lbs.

Other highlights saw Canada challenge all other teams on social media to get involved with their Bermuda beach clean up, while Denmark picked up more than one million views on an episode of its docu-series Beneath the Surface, which highlighted sustainability challenges and solutions on the island. A key highlight for winner New Zealand was promoting Live Ocean’s partner research into the significance of kelp forests and their contribution to coastal carbon cycles, which was funded by New Zealand’s Season 2 Impact League winnings.

Speaking about the results, SailGP’s director of purpose and impact Fiona Morgan said: “I'm so proud to see how far we have come since the Impact League launch and also to see how teams are collaborating with each other, their partners and other stakeholders to drive real change."

The Impact League has been simplified in Season 3 to ensure it drives maximum impact, while reducing the time taken for teams to collect and report on all criteria at every event. It is more weighted towards quantitative data, encourages collaboration and learning between teams, while aligning to SailGP's global sustainability goals and actions.

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