The first F50s have hit the water to begin crucial training time ahead of this weekend’s Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
The United States, Switzerland, Germany, Emirates GBR and Spain have all been spotted practicing maneuvers on the Mina Zayed ahead of official practice racing tomorrow, Friday January 12.
The Emirates GBR F50, now rebranded with the name of new driver Giles Scott, hosted the second all-female training session after a successful debut in Dubai.
Female athletes including Emirates GBR’s Hannah Mills, ROCKWOOL DEN’s Katja Salskov-Iversen and France’s Manon Audinet were seen rotating roles and banking crucial training time on board the F50.
The session, overseen by Emirates GBR coach Rob Wilson, comes after the first all-female training session took place on board the Swiss F50 in Dubai.
Official practice racing on Friday, January 12 will see the F50 fleet size each other up in the new venue of Abu Dhabi for the first time, with three trial practice races scheduled.
Racing will get underway in earnest on January 13, with the first three fleet races kicking off at 2pm GST, before continuing on January 14 with two more fleet races and the all-important, three-boat Final.
Heading into Abu Dhabi, three-time champions Australia sit at the top of the leaderboard, despite not yet winning an event in Season 4. They are followed by ROCKWOOL DEN and New Zealand in second and third respectively.
Both ROCKWOOL DEN and Emirates GBR will race with new drivers in Abu Dhabi, with Giles Scott replacing Ben Ainslie on board the British F50 and Nathan Outteridge stepping in for Nicolai Sehested, who is out on paternity leave, on board ROCKWOOL DEN.
