'Time will tell' SailGP commentators on the new teams and the 'Can do betters'
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 5 Nov 2024 01:47 PST
Switzerland ahead of France and Emirates Great Britain during a practice session ahead of the Spain Sail Grand Prix in Cadiz, Spain. Oct 13, 2023. 13th October 2023. Photo: Bob Martin for SailGP. Handout image supplied by SailGP © Bob Martin for SailGP
Third of a series as SailGP commentators Stevie Morrison and Lisa Damanin look at the strengths and weaknesses of the new teams and the bottom placed teams ahead of the upcoming SailGP Season 5.
Of special interest are the new Brazilian SailGP team with Martine Grael as skipper along with a very strong crew, the yet to be announced Italian team, and the three bottom of the table teams - Switzerland, USA and Germany. The latter three are all privately owned and with more ability to change their lineup by buying in new crew.
The two commentators ponder on the chances of available helmsmen Nathan Outteridge and Phil Robertson, should the crews of the bottom three teams not produce results in Season 5, and whether the owners and backers of the teams would allow that to continue while hired help was available.
Not mentioned is the expected presence of Torben Grael, winner of five Olympic medals, and the Volvo Ocean Race, and father of Martine and Marco Grael.
They also speculate on the second catastrophic wing failure on the Brazilian F50 during the training session in Bermuda on September 10, 2024. The first occurred 12 months earlier to the New Zealand SailGP team in Saint Tropez, after concluding a race. No public disclosure of the reasons for either failure has been made, and whether it was a shore crew, design or sailor error.
At the end of the session, both commentators reveal their picks as to how they see the team rankings.