Sailing World Cup Miami – Nacra duo Saxton and Groves to part ways

by RYA on 1 Feb 2017 Sailing World Cup gold in Miami this weekend brought with it mixed emotions for Rio Olympians Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves, who are to end their Nacra 17 campaign after two successful years together.

Groves has been offered a ‘not-to-be-missed’ career opportunity of a six-month internship at a London investment bank, so will be taking a break from the Olympic campaign trail while she gains new skills and experiences.

In the meantime, Saxton will seek to establish a new campaign with a new crew towards Tokyo 2020, as the Nacra 17 transitions to a foiling boat later this year.

During their partnership, Saxton and Groves were regular faces at the front of the mixed multihull fleet, winning the 2015 European Championship, two World Cup gold medals and finishing their first Olympic Games in ninth place.

“This is an amazing opportunity for my long-term career options beyond sailing, and the new skills and experiences I pick up I’m sure will also be hugely beneficial to any future campaign,” said 27-year-old Groves.

“It will be sad to stop sailing together with Ben, but I wish him every success for the future.”

“I understand Nic’s decision to take up what’s an exciting challenge for her, and I wish her all the very best with it,” added Saxton, 26. “We would like to thank everyone who has helped and supported us over the past two years to achieve all that we have as a team.

“I’m totally driven towards winning a medal at Tokyo and so will look to take that plan forward with a new crew at the earliest opportunity.

“Nic and I remain great friends and will always share this awesome chapter of our lives that we worked so hard together on.”