The SailGP racing wasn’t the only action on the water in Spain last week, the WE Foundation SailGP One Sport Race also took place in the bay of Cadiz. One Sport, is in practice, becoming one team and utilising each other’s strengths, regardless of ability.
10 SailGP athletes, including Swiss athletes Sebastien Schneiter (driver), Will Ryan (wing trimmer) and Nathan Outteridge (strategist and sailing advisor), joined 10 inclusive sailors to team up and race together in the RS Venture Connect, an inclusive sailing boat that is designed to be sailed by both disabled and able-bodied people of all abilities.
Schneiter said: “The One Sport race in Cadiz was really fun! It’s a great initiative for promoting inclusivity and showing that we can all come together to compete, regardless of ability.”
There were five boats, with two crew racing onboard together, and each team sailed in three races. The top five teams, after six rounds, went into a five-team final race.
Swiss athlete, Nathan Outteridge, and 23-year-old Adam Billany from Great Britain were the winning crew. Outteridge said: “Adam did a fantastic job, and it was a pleasure to race with him. I had a lot of fun out there! We really hope to see more inclusive racing like this in the future.”
Swiss SailGP Team is committed to using its sporting platform to champion and developed projects that help to build on including more inclusivity within the sport of sailing.
Bjørnar Erikstad, CEO of the team’s main and SailGP Race for the Future partner, WE Foundation, said: “A few years ago we introduced the words ‘One Sport’, because sport is equal for everyone, if you have and adapt the tools.
“Last week in Cadiz we proved this by using the RS Venture connect and bringing together inclusive sailors and sailors from the different SailGP teams. Sustainability is about offering everybody equal terms; the wind doesn’t care if you have short arms, if you are paralysed or what your ability or disability is, it does whatever it wants. It’s down to us all to have the right mindset so that everyone has equal terms.”
WE FOUNDATION SAILGP ONE SPORT RACE, CADIZ RESULTS //
1st Nathan Outteridge (Strategist & sailing advisor- Team SUI) / Adam Billany (GBR)
2nd Tom Ramshaw (Grinder - Team CAN) / Jazz Turner (GBR)
3rd Will Ryan (Wing trimmer - Team SUI) / Jim Thweatt (USA)
THE ONE SPORT TEAMS //
Team 1 – Seba Schneiter (Driver - Team SUI) / Philippe Echivard (SUI)
Team 2 – Hannah Diamond (Strategist - Emirates Team GBR) / Rory McKenna (GBR)
Team 3 – Will Ryan (Wing trimmer - Team SUI) / Jim Thweatt (USA)
Team 4 – Nathan Outteridge (Strategist - Team SUI) / Adam Billany (GBR)
Team 5 – Nina Curtis (Strategist - Team AUS) / Chris Symonds (AUS)
Team 6 – Tom Ramshaw (Grinder - Team CAN) / Jazz Turner (GBR)
Team 7 – Joel Rodriguez (Flight controller - Team ESP) / Violetta Del Reino (ESP)
Team 8 – Anne Marie (Strategist / grinder - ROCKWOOL Team DEN) / Henriette Regine Smith (NOR)
Team 9 – Marcus Hansen (Grinder -Team NZL) / Pau Homar Munar (ESP)
Team 10 – Anna Barth (Strategist - Team GER) / Nadine Loshhke (GER)
