SailGP: Candians extend a helping hand to long-time event sponsor
by Jonno Turner, Rockwool Denmark 22 Mar 19:22 PDT
Northstar Canada reliveried their F50 platform - Race 1- Oracle San Francisco SailGP - March 22, 2025 - San Francisco © Ricardo Pinto/SailGP
The NorthStar SailGP Team will feature an eye-catching new logo on the race course at the Oracle San Francisco Sail Grand Prix, after offering to have Rockwool's logo on the team's F50 as Rockwool Racing SailGP Team sit out this event.
The unique collaboration is a goodwill gesture from the Canadians to the Danish, after Nicolai Sehested's boat was ruled out of racing in San Francisco on Thursday, due to damage attained during a collision at the Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix last weekend.
Despite best efforts from the SailGP Tech Team, the damage was subsequently deemed too extensive to fix in time to go racing in the second part of SailGP's USA double header.
Reacting to the news at the SailGP Press Conference on Friday, Rockwool Racing driver Nicolai Sehested said: "We are so grateful to the whole NorthStar team, and in particular their owner, Dr. Greg Bailey and the team's CEO Phil Kennard, for this incredibly kind offer to have Rockwool on the team's F50 for this event."
He adds: "The whole SailGP community has been really supportive since the incident last week, plus the subsequent news that we can't go racing here in San Francisco - and none more so than Canada. We really want to say a big thanks to them for representing us on the race course this weekend."
The two teams share a history of collaboration stretching back several seasons - culminating in the Rockwool Canada Sail Grand Prix in Season 4, which saw Rockwool and the Danish team work together with the Canadians and SailGP to deliver the first ever Canadian Sail Grand Prix in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
"We really feel for the Rockwool Racing team, having to sit out most of the event in LA, not making the start line here, and receiving maximum season damage points," said NorthStar driver Giles Scott. "I think most teams look at their situation and think - that could be any one of us."
Giles added: "We believe that as SailGP teams, we need to stick together. For us, this is just a way of helping out a good team in their hour of need and hopefully easing some of the pressure around their situation."
Rockwool has hosted more than 100 VIP guests across the Los Angeles and San Francisco events and Sehested admits that the kind gesture from Canada comes with significant commercial impact for the team's title partner.
"Firstly, it gives our guests a team to cheer for during the event here in San Francisco. I know they will be cheering for the Canadians in our place," he said.
"But importantly, we know just how valuable SailGP is as a platform for global brands like Rockwool. The live broadcast gets millions of views and that has a direct financial value for our commercial partners across the board. So whilst these situations are tough to take from a racing point of view, there are consequences off the water too."
He continued: "Rockwool has been the most amazing partner to us for more than five years now, and has always had our backs - through thick and thin- and we have had some thin times this week."
"I'm happy that, with Canada, we have been able to find this creative solution to help represent Rockwool on the water. I have promised Giles that NorthStar will have a lot of Danish fans this weekend - including our sailors... for this event!"
"We will be back stronger and we can't wait to meet NorthStar back on the start line, in Rio de Janeiro at the next event in May."