ANDALUCÍA - CÁDIZ, SPAIN - October 9, 2021 – The United States SailGP Team currently sits in second place after the first day of racing at the Spain Sail Grand Prix after a come-from-behind win with minutes left in the final race of the day. The result builds momentum into the final day of racing tomorrow with the American team looking to consolidate their standing on the overall championship leaderboard.
CJ Perez, the youngest SailGP athlete at 18 years old, made history today as the first American woman to race in the global sailing championship. “It was fantastic, being on the boat racing with some of the best sailors in the entire world on the F50 foot foiling catamaran,” she said.
“It feels incredible that all these women can be racing together in the same league,” Perez continued. “It’s great what SailGP is doing for the sport and I can’t wait to move forward and have more results like today.”
CEO and Driver Jimmy Spithill added, “we have some real talent in CJ and it’s great to have someone else to help out with information. She and Andrew Campbell did a fantastic job today, especially in the last race when I felt we were the fastest boat out there.”
Spithill and Perez both recognized it’s a new game tomorrow with high wind speeds forecasted, which could potentially push the F50 to it’s upper limits.
“Tomorrow will be completely different conditions,” Spithill said. “Last time we had strong breeze was in Bermuda and then briefly in Denmark. You have to win in any condition, and tomorrow will be a preview of what we’ll likely see in San Francisco [for the season final]. It will be a great chance to get out there and see where we stand in the fleet.”
The final standings at the end of racing tomorrow could prove crucial in determining the team’s qualification for the $1 million Grand Final in at the United States Sail Grand Prix | San Francisco March 26-27, 2022 with only December’s Australian Sail Grand Prix | Sydney being the penultimate event on SailGP’s Season 2 calendar. The top three overall teams at the end of the season will qualify to compete for that final race. The U.S. SailGP Team currently sits in second place in the overall standings.
Racing continues tomorrow for the Spain Sail Grand Prix | Cadiz – Andalusia and will air live at 10:30 a.m. EDT on SailGP’s YouTube channel and the SailGP APP. Delayed full broadcast coverage of both days will air Sunday, October 10 on CBS Sports at 12:00pm EDT (Race Day 1) and 10:00pm EDT (Race Day 2).
For more information on the full Season 2 calendar as well as the U.S. SailGP Team visit SailGP.com or follow the team on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
