Season 5 of SailGP begins, Vendée Globe records broken, RC44 and Melges 15 updates
by David Schmidt 26 Nov 2024 08:00 PST
November 26, 2024
Peter Burling, co-CEO and driver of New Zealand SailGP Team on the podium as they spray rose water in celebration with the New Zealand SailGP Team on Race Day 2 of the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix © Christopher Pike/SailGP
While singlehanded skippers racing in the nonstop-around-the-world Vendée Globe race have been posting record-setting runs thanks to plenty of breeze, the story was different at the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix event (November 23-24), which just wrapped up on the waters off of Port Mina Rashid in the United Arab Emirates. There, eleven SailGP teams, racing aboard identical F50 catamarans, saw mostly light-air conditions to start Season 5's racing. By the end of the weekend, the New Zealand SailGP team proved the boat to beat, followed by Emirates Great Britain and the United States SailGP Team.
The Spain SailGP Team, which won Season 4's championship title and prize purse, finished in fourth place, while the Australian SailGP Team, which won the title (and purse) for the professional sailing league's first three seasons, finished in fifth place.
In total, race officials scored five fleet races, which saw wins by the U.S. team, the German team, the Australian team, the New Zealand team, and the Danish team. The event Final saw the Kiwis square off against the Brits and the Americans, with the Black Foils collecting their third consecutive win on Dubai waters.
"Awesome play from the group - I mean as a new team to get to the final this week - it's one of the hardest things in this light air," said Peter Burling, driver for the New Zealand SailGP team, in an official event communication. "We really pulled it out this season and got a great start and hit it right at mark one."
While the Black Foils have enjoyed plenty of event wins and podium finishes at SailGP events, the United States SailGP team, which was purchased and reformed during Season 4, is a relative newcomer to the league's Top Three.
"Any event going on the podium is incredible, so it's awesome to see how all the hard work we have put in is paying off," said Taylor Canfield, driver of the U.S.-flagged boat in an official event communication. "It's early stages, and we have a lot to build on - but the team are working hard and made a huge jump here overnight. And everyone dug in deep and found a way to get better for today. That's the goal and it just shows how driven we are, and that everyone's got that fight in them - so yeah, we are pumped."
While most teams have seen some crew fluctuation this year, including the professional sailing world's first athlete trades, the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix event saw the debut of the Mubadala Brazil team, which is helmed by the league's first female driver (and double Olympic gold medalist), Martine Grael, and of Red Bull Italy, which is helmed by fellow double Olympic gold medalist Ruggero Tita.
These teams may be stacked with talent, but even these double-Olympic gold medalist helms are learning that winning at SailGP requires time in the saddle.
"There were a lot of challenges," reported Grael in an event communication. "I think it's all going well and I'm very happy with our crew. We've been trying to improve a lot in the last few days, so it's been a steep learning curve."
The next SailGP event is set to unfurl on the waters off of Auckland, New Zealand, from January 18-19, 2025, and is expected to feature 12 teams, as the France SailGP team, which is still awaiting delivery of their new F50, are set to join the league's starting line samba. Expect even more racecourse congestion at the league's first 2025 event, and, with luck, enough breeze for the F50s to really show off their speed potential.
As mentioned, the racecourse action has been furious in the Vendée Globe, where race leaders are (at the time of this writing, on Monday morning, U.S. West Coast time) roughly halfway between Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, and the Cape of Good Hope. To date, the South Atlantic has been delivering the kind of conditions (read: 17-20 knots and flat waters) that allow foil-borne IMOCA 60 monohulls to really lay down the miles.
In fact, the 24-hour solo distance record (yet to be ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council) has fallen three times during this edition of the Vendée Globe, with skipper Yoann Richomme, racing aboard Paprec Arkea, sailing a gobsmacking 579.86 miles on Sunday (November 24) to capture the current title.
As of this writing, skipper Charlie Dalin, racing aboard Macif Sante Prevoyance, was leading the hunt, followed some 41 nautical miles astern by Thomas Ruyant, racing aboard Vulnerable, and Richomme aboard Paprec Arkea, who was about 75 nautical miles astern of Dalin.
While there's plenty of engaging media coming off of the boats, one of the cooler things that I've discovered related to this year's Vendée Globe is the free race tracker plugin that Windy.com is offering. Once enabled, viewers can see the fleet's real-time position, plus the real-time weather that the boats are experiencing.
If you enjoy Windy.com, this feature is well worth exploring.
Sail-World wishes all 39 skippers who are still competing in this year's Vendée Globe great luck and safe and fast sailing as they begin their approaches to the Cape of Good Hope and their initial entries into the windswept Southern Ocean.
Closer to home, the 44Cup Nanny Cay event (November 20-24) recently wrapped up on the waters off of Nanny Cay marina on Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands. After 12 races, Aleph Racing emerged victorious, followed by Charisma and Team Nika.
"It was a beautiful day," said Pietro Loro Piana, who drove Aleph Racing. "I am happy because the team deserved it. I made a lot of mistakes putting Michele [Ivaldi, the team's tactician] in difficult situations. He has done a great job, and he really pulled something out of his head today [with our two wins]. I am very happy with the result."
This event was the RC44 class's final 2024 showing, following previous regattas in Lanzarote (February 28-March 3), Spain (May 8-12), Sweden (June 19-23), and Switzerland (August 21-25). The results from the Nanny Cay event, plus the other four regattas, put Team Nika atop the 2024 leaderboard, followed by Team CEEREF Vaider and Aleph Racing.
Finally, on American waters, the Melges 15 class began its 2024-2025 Winter Series this past weekend (November 23 and 24) on the waters off of Merritt Island, Florida. Racing was preceded by a two-day clinic with class coach (and former Olympian) Paris Henken that attracted 20-plus team, followed by the regatta itself, which saw 66 teams from around the country compete in four races.
"The level of coaching was top-notch," said Jeff Daigle, skipper of USA 858, of the event. "We felt like we went from total baseline in the boat to having a good idea of what we could work on to improve. We have a long way to go together, but we're coming off the water with smiles and excited to be there."
Amen to that!
May the four winds blow you safely home,
David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor