Please select your home edition
Edition
Cyclops Marine 2023 November - LEADERBOARD

SailGP crowns Emirates Great Britain Season 4 Champions of the Impact League

by SailGP 12 Jul 2024 12:33 PDT July 13-14, 2024
Hannah Mills, Luke Parkinson, Nick Hutton, Neil Hunter, Giles Scott, Iain Jensen and Hannah Diamond, pose for a photo with the SailGP Impact League trophy ahead of the SailGP Season 4 Grand Final in San Francisco, USA © Jed Jacobsohn for SailGP

The team's commitment to climate action, empowering young people and driving gender equity in sailing sees Emirates GBR place top-spot in the third year of sports first-ever Impact League.

Sir Ben Ainslie and Hannah Mills' Emirates Great Britain SailGP team have been crowned Champions of SailGP's Impact League, to be awarded at the first-ever Impact Awards - a celebration of the season's sustainable efforts on and off the water, held in the lead up to the Season 4 Grand Final in San Francisco. The team's victory marks the third new Impact League champion in as many seasons for the parallel podium to the racing Championship.

A world first, the Impact League runs alongside the SailGP Season Championship itself, and tracks the positive actions teams take to reduce their overall footprint and accelerate inclusivity in sailing. The competition is overseen and judged independently by some of the most credible and noteworthy names in industry - from renowned leader in climate policy, Rachel Kyte, to three-time W Series Champion and IndyCar driver, Jamie Chadwick. Throughout the season, teams are judged against four new Focus Areas aligned to SailGP's overall strategy ambitions- Climate Action, Accelerating Inclusion, Race to Zero Waste, and Breaking Boundaries.

The Great Britain team have rounded off a hugely impactful season on and off the water to lift the highly coveted trophy and secure prize funds for their purpose partner, Protect Our Future, and their collaborative ambition to empower 3 million young people to take climate action by the end of Season 5. Emirates GBR had just a handful of points lead over runners-up ROCKWOOL Denmark - last season's Impact League champions - and Switzerland in third place.

And what sealed the deal for Emirates GBR was securing first place in the fourth and final round of the League's focus areas - Breaking Boundaries - the opportunity to increase gender equity on board the F50 in line with SailGP's Women's Pathway Strategy, and focus on getting female athletes more time in the driver, wing trimmer and flight controller roles.

Ahead of the inaugural Impact Awards hosted at San Francisco's Exploratorium, Emirates GBR Strategist Hannah Mills OBE, said: "We are so proud to be crowned winners of the Impact League. The whole team has worked extremely hard to not only make positive changes ourselves, but also inspire others to take climate action too. Across the season we've achieved some amazing things with our purpose partners, Protect Our Future and Low Carbon, from educating 1,750 children at SailGP events on climate action to taking our team base off-grid with our renewable energy installation. We are looking forward to defending the Impact League trophy next season with even more exciting and innovative projects."

Sir Ben Ainslie, CEO Emirates GBR CEO enthused: "Winning the Impact League is testament to the team's unwavering commitment to sustainability, innovation, and using the power of sport to inspire and educate the next generation. This win highlights the importance of collaboration and innovation in addressing environmental challenges. Athletes and sports teams have a responsibility to use their platform to drive positive change and raise awareness about climate issues. By advocating for sustainability, they can help protect our future."

After finishing third on the Impact League podium in Season 3, Emirates GBR chased down the trophy with increased commitment and focus throughout the season. The team placed second in the Climate Action Focus Area for their work with global renewable energy company, Low Carbon, to create a bespoke portable solar and wind installation. The installation, consisting of 38 solar panels and two micro wind turbines, produces enough renewable energy to take the Emirates GBR team base off-grid at events and also help power other SailGP teams. Following the project's success, the team and Low Carbon worked together to produce a Blueprint to provide other sports teams and industries with the information needed to incorporate renewable energy.

Emirates GBR then took the top spot for Breaking Boundaries, with highly ambitious and committed pathways for athletes Hannah Mills and Hannah Diamond, on and off the water. Mills and Emirates GBR CEO Sir Ben Ainslie also launched Athena Pathway, a development programme for female and youth athletes to widen the talent pool for SailGP. Emirates GBR's commitment to accelerating inclusion in the sport is also exemplary, creating an internship programme in collaboration with The Greig City Academy, an inner-city London school. Kai Hockley, an 18-year-old from Tottenham, London, was part of the first intake and has traveled to five SailGP events with the team to date. They have also hosted more than 1,750 young people in climate action workshops across the calendar, with the support of their partner, Protect Our Future.

While only one can lift the coveted Impact League trophy, there were stand-out moments for all front-runners this season. ROCKWOOL Denmark led the way for most of the season, excelling in Focus Area projects and scoring a huge 90 out of 100 points in Accelerating Inclusion. The team's community outreach project in Taranto engaged under privileged groups in the local community, reducing social-economic barriers to inclusion by broadening their understanding of issues such as ocean science and climate change.

Switzerland were also ones to watch. After a complete U-turn from their standing in Season 3, several high-impact initiatives put the Swiss on the podium forefront, notably their initiative to collect water from boat washdowns to reuse and recycle, which judges acknowledged had significant potential to scale across the marine industry - and beyond...

Speaking from the heart ahead of the Impact Awards, SailGP's Chief Purpose Officer Fiona Morgan said: "I am incredibly proud to have delivered another year of the Impact League and it is great to see a new team winning - three different Champions in as many seasons - and such fierce competition with all teams upping their game across the season calendar. The global impact the Podium for the Planet delivers is unrivaled; working with world-class partners, we're creating a ripple effect in sailing and inspiring other sports. I am really thrilled for the Great Britain team and their Impact League title - they came into the season wanting to win and have delivered a super impactful calendar, with great initiatives across both social and environmental sustainability".

SailGP Season 4 Impact League Leaderboard //

1 // Emirates Great Britain // 602 points
2 // ROCKWOOL Denmark // 598 points
3 // Switzerland // 590 points
4 // France // 571 points
5 // New Zealand // 560 points
6 // Australia // 544 points
7 // Germany 513
8 // Canada 502 points
9 // Spain 486 points
10 // United States 479 points

Related Articles

Italian SailGP Team acquired by investors
The consortium includes Hollywood royalty, Anne Hathaway SailGP has today announced that the Red Bull Italy SailGP Team, has officially been acquired by a consortium of accomplished investors and sports industry leaders, including Hollywood royalty, Anne Hathaway. Posted today at 8:53 am
SailGP Docuseries Spotlights Spithill's Sacrifices
Showcasing growth of the most exciting racing on water SailGP announced it will launch its first-ever, long-form premium docuseries Uncharted next month in order to highlight how the global championship has flipped the narrative on traditional sailing through the lens of Jimmy Spithill. Posted on 21 May
Coutts gives some advice to ageing pro teams
Coutts sounds a warning to the 12 teams to refresh their talent and upskill younger sailors Speaking with Stevie Morrison at the SailGP Technologies facility in Southampton, UK, Coutts sounds a warning to the 12 teams to refresh their talent, upskill younger sailors, and bring them into the SailGP teams. Posted on 15 May
SailGP upgrades F50 fleet ahead of New York event
A series of upgrades are now under way to all 12 wingsails Following a full inspection and review, SailGP can confirm a series of upgrades are now under way to all 12 wingsails in the championship's fleet of high-speed F50 catamarans. Posted on 12 May
Diego Botin on 'getting back in the game'
After a slow start to SailGP Season 5 Young guns Spain may have swept to victory last season, stealing the Season 4 Championship title from under the noses of league heavyweights Australia and New Zealand, but they began the 2025 Season with a string of mixed results. Posted on 4 May
SailGP: Russell Coutts gives a progress report
Progresson on review of wingsail structures, new boat builds, and building up the spares inventory. SailGP CEO Russell Coutts has provided an update on the League's issues as it undertakes a review of the wingsail structures, new boat builds, and building up the spares inventory. Posted on 3 May
Grael reflects on Mubadala Brazil's first season
Challenging conditions, big goals and gaining the team's trust It's been a whirlwind first season for Mubadala Brazil so far. The team, led by SailGP's first female driver and double Olympic champion Martine Grael, entered the league alongside Red Bull Italy at the start of the season. Posted on 19 Apr
Auckland responds to 2026 SailGP ommission
Auckland Events CEO responds to 2026 SailGP venue ommission despite a valid Hosting Agreement. Auckland Unlimited CEO has responded to the ommission of Auckland from the 2026 preliminary event list circulated by the SailGP League, despite a four event Kiwi hosting contract having one event remaining. Posted on 16 Apr
Australia expands to two events
For 2026 Rolex SailGP Championship SailGP, the global sail racing championship, has today revealed an expanded Australian footprint, with two events - Perth and Sydney - confirmed among the first 2026 Season destinations. Posted on 16 Apr
SailGP Rio event cancelled
After identifying a defect in select wingsails across the F50 fleet After identifying a defect in select wingsails across the F50 fleet, SailGP has made the difficult decision to cancel next month's Rio event (May 3-4) in order to facilitate required repairs ahead of New York and the remainder of the 2025 Season. Posted on 10 Apr
Doyle_SailWorld_728X90px_cruise BOTTOMHenri-Lloyd Dynamic RangeArmstrong 728x90 - HA Foil Range - BOTTOM