The CEO of the incoming Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team has teased the team’s complete crew line-up, revealing the roster includes ‘amazing, experienced’ athletes.
Alan Adler, who is leading the formation of the team, revealed he recently visited Barcelona on a mission to secure top talent for the Brazilian team.
‘Many’ of the confirmed athletes have America’s Cup experience, Adler said, adding that he approached ‘a few of the prospects’ during the current competition.
“We are focused on securing the talent,” he said, “and we have successfully secured amazing, experienced sailors.”
It comes as the Brazilian team announced Marco Grael and Mateus Isaac as its grinding partnership. Brother to driver Martine Grael, Marco has competed in three Olympics and won gold in the 2019 Pan American Games with sailing partner Gabriel Borges. Mateus meanwhile has had great success as a professional windsurfer, becoming a ten-time Brazilian champion, six-time South American champion and picking up a gold medal in the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.
Despite being a new team, Brazil has ‘high aspirations’ heading into its debut season, Adler said. The likely light winds of the season opener in Dubai will ‘equalize the fleet’, allowing the Brazilians to ‘aim high’.
“Of course, we will respect that we are new to the game, but it doesn’t matter - every day will count,” he said. “We will learn from every race to improve and we are the underdogs - no pressure - but it is in our nature to compete and win.”
He reflected on the ‘priceless’ training camp in Bermuda, which saw members of the new team step on board the F50 for the first time. The five days' training was ‘so important’, Adler said, in allowing driver Martine Grael and other crew members to ‘get to know the boat’.
“Even though it was a short window, they had very valuable time on the water. Not only getting to know the boat, but start to do a lot of maneuvers and grow the confidence in tacks and jibing,” he said.
The crew also worked on ‘communication’, which is crucial in ‘avoiding accidents and planning ahead in the maneuvers.” “Everyone came back incredibly excited,” Adler said. “Martine and the other Brazilians came back saying ‘wow’”.
