U.S. SailGP Team rallies for a final race third-place finish in Sydney
by United States SailGP Team 26 Feb 10:33 AEDT
February 24-25, 2024
The USA SailGP Team F50 catamaran is towed past Sydney Opera House during a practice session ahead of the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, Australia © Ricardo Pinto for SailGP
A third-place finish closed out a challenging weekend on Sydney Harbor for the recently revamped United States SailGP Team, competing in the eighth event of SailGP's Season 4 at the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix. The team finished the event in ninth place overall.
"There is plenty more to come out of this team," U.S. SailGP Team Drive Taylor Canfield said. "I am looking forward to growing and developing personally and together as a team. We all believe there is more to come and are focused on doing the work to make it happen."
Sydney marked the third event for the newly revamped team, which was acquired last November by a prestigious group of owners and investors. As Team CEO and Strategist Mike Buckley pointed out, "Right now we are literally training while racing given the lack of days together on the water."
The more established teams, such as the event winners and overall Season 4 leaders the Australian SailGP Team have been together since the league's inception and spent countless hours on the highly technical F50 race boat. This amount of time, teamwork - and talent - can't be underestimated according to Buckley.
"Confidence comes from preparation and our team has 11 days total on the F50," Buckley said. "However, every one of these races adds to the experience we need collectively to truly compete, it's just going to take some time to get to where we all believe we can be."
Olympian Anna Weis raced in a dual capacity this weekend, in the strategist role and in the highly-physical grinder position. Sydney was her first event back on the F50 and first time racing with the new team members.
"Our last race was really solid," Weis said. "It felt like the many things we've been working on have begun paying off. Finishing a race in the top three is a good start to build upon as we look ahead to New Zealand next month and continue the hard work to come together as a team."
SailGP turns next to New Zealand for the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix, March 23-24, before heading to North America this spring for a quick succession of events in Bermuda (May 3-4); Halifax, Canada (June 1-2); New York City (June 22-23); and the Season 4 Grand Final in San Francisco (July 13-14).