PLYMOUTH - July 15, 2021 - The United States SailGP Team has arrived in Plymouth, UK looking to climb the Season 2 standings at the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix this weekend, Saturday, July 17 through Sunday, July 18, in the third event of the global championships’ calendar.
Last month’s thrilling Italy Sail Grand Prix in Taranto ended in disbelief for the American team when it’s F50 catamaran suffered an underwater collision while leading and with the finish line in sight on the penultimate leg of the podium finals. With the taste of that narrow loss still fresh, the United States SailGP Team is more determined than ever to return to the water.
“We’ve seen that our team has what it takes to win races,” said U.S. SailGP Team Driver Jimmy Spithill. “That’s no small feat in a league as competitive as SailGP. Momentum is on our side and this team is confident that if we keep sailing as well as we have, good results will follow.”
New for the Great Britain event, SailGP is letting fans “see what the coaches see”, debuting SailGP Insights powered by Oracle which provides incredible real-time F50 data access during racing. SailGP Insights previously served as an exclusive data dashboard used internally among the teams to relay the telemetry coming off the F50 catamaran. The new engagement experience incorporates selectable live broadcast video feeds enabling fans a multi-dimensional race experience made possible by the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. To experience the new dashboard, head to sailgpinsights.com during racing.
Also new this event was SailGP’s breakthrough announcement of a second podium this season – the Impact League – launched in support of its #RacefortheFuture purpose-led agenda, to make sustainability action essential to the fabric of sport. All eight international teams will compete during the season across 10 key sustainability criteria ranging from reducing their carbon footprint to helping accelerate inclusivity in sailing, with the ultimate goal of racing for purpose, as well as for sport.
Each team will receive an external audit after every event, and the winning team of the Impact League will be crowned alongside the Season Champions at the end of Season 2,earning funding for their respective national purpose partner(s). The United States SailGP Team is partnered with Rise to Win and World Sailing Trust as part of their mission to advance diversity and inclusion in American sailing, and if victorious, would split the prize between both organizations.
The Great Britain Sail Grand Prix | Plymouth will air live on CBS Sports Network this Saturday, July 17 at 9:00am EDT and Sunday, July 18 at 9:30am EDT. Free streaming coverage of the racing will also be available on the SailGP APP, Facebook, and YouTube channels.
