SailGP Season 3 wrapped up today in San Francisco with the Australia SailGP Team scoring the hat trick, lifting the trophy for the third consecutive season.
Following on from winning the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix just weeks ago in Christchurch, the Canadian team was in sixth place overall coming into the eleventh and final event of the season.
Driver Phil Robertson executed five superb starts over the course of the two-day event, setting the Canadians up well to finish strong with a third place overall in the Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final.
“It is really nice to end on a bit of a high and jump up the leaderboard a bit, to make third for the event and fifth overall for the season. A really solid place for a team whose first season it was together,” said Phil.
Also competing this week in San Francisco in the SailGP Inpsire Regatta were three young Canadians: Rachael Betschart, Rebecca Heller and Ethan Thomas. After three full days of WASZP racing, Rachael placed an impressive second overall, while Ethan was 8th and Rebecca 10th.
A veteran of the We CAN Foil programme, Galen Richardson joined the team this week as a SailGP Career intern, while Angus Aitken (QUE) and Grace Poole (BC) were interning with the League for the duration of the event.
Race For The Future Partner, Ocean Wise was also with the team in San Francisco to mark the conclusion of the Season 3 Impact League and organized a shoreline clean up supported by TruEarth. Just shy of a podium finish, the Canada SailGP Team placed fourth in the Impact League, while it was Denmark winning with their partner One Ocean Foundation.
“I think we hit all our goals this season. That is a great place to be as a new squad. We did a lot of learning this year and that is huge. The more you learn, the better you get. Creating consistency is everything and that is what you need to do to make the finals."
It’s a quick turnaround until the start of Season 4, which begins in Chicago on 16 June with the Rolex US Sail Grand Prix.
“We have a few things to tick off behind the scenes before we hit Chicago,” said Phil. “The goals will be revisited and replanned. When you put a squad together, you have to think long term and there are a lot of steps to take. The points are back to zero, so game on.”
