Racing on the Edge Grand Final Episode: Sir Ben Ainslie and Hannah Mills
by SailGP 3 May 2023 15:53 AEST
SailGP Racing on the Edge: 'The Deal Maker' © SailGP
The final episode for Season 3 of SailGP's fly-on-the-wall docuseries, Racing on the Edge, has been released. Called 'The Deal Maker' it looks at the intriguing dynamics in the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team as it prepares to try and take the final spot in the Mubadala Season 3 Grand Final in San Francisco.
Led and owned by the most decorated Olympic sailor of all time, Sir Ben Ainslie, the team has failed to win an event all season yet still sits just outside the all-important top 3 on the Season 3 leaderboard. It will battle with Quentin Delapierre's plucky France team - who have surprised the fleet to win two events this season - for the final season decider spot.
Speaking in the episode Ainslie said: "I think Quentin is the most impressive sailor in SailGP right now in terms of coming into a new team that was on the back foot, massively turning things around and leading that team, I think it's one of the most impressive things I've seen in sailing."
Switzerland strategist Nathan Outteridge said: "I feel like if Ben makes the final, youre going to have Australia and New Zealand with this rivalry that's developed all year, and I can't help but feel Ben's going to slide in and just steal a victory that's looked really unlikely all season."
The team is also chartering new territory with the return to the fold of sailing legend Hannah Mills from giving birth last year to daughter Sienna.
Mills said: "I've got to come from feeding Sienna right before we go out racing, and I love it. I love being a mum, and getting that opportunity to have all those moments with her, it's the most amazing thing I have ever done. And then I also love this opportunity I have with SailGP, to keep that part of my identity too, this has allowed me to be both those people, it's a really nice kind of mesh."
Ainslie said it would mean a lot to lead Britain to victory next Sunday: "We are a proud maritime nation, SailGP is the new frontier in sailing so it would mean a lot for us to be the top team, this is our chance to set those foundations for the long term, and that is what we are going to try and do."