SailGP: Can Sydney match Auckland and team poaching - Sydney Media conference
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 6 Feb 23:08 UTC
Representatives from five teams - Media Conference - Sydney Opera House ahead of the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, Australia. Friday 7 February - Rolex SailGP Event 3 Season © Brett Phibbs/SailGP
A very Australian orientated media conference set the scene for third leg of the Season 5 SailGP, which will be sailed on Sydney Harbour this weekend.
Staged in the Sydney Opera House, the media conference was conducted by local broadcaster Fox Sports. The event followed the same format other recent SailGP media conferences with only five of the 12 teams being represented, and with two members of the Australian team on stage.
Twice America's Cup winner, Jimmy Spithill, now leading the Red Bull Italy team said the previous event in Auckland was "one of the best events that I've ever seen so far. Watching it from the shore was just an unbelievable experience. It was like literally being at Eden Park in All Black match with all the crowd, atmosphere and the conditions. It was also a great result for our guys."
Spithill later explained that he came close to sailing in Auckland after Flight Controller Andrea Tesei was injured in the top end conditions on Day 1 of the racing on the Waitemata Harbour. "I woke up and got told, okay, I'm on now, and I was scrambling, trying to find a wet suit and all sorts of stuff that I didn't think I'd need." Fortunately the French crew, boatless in Auckland provided a stand-in, and helped the new Red Bull Italian team in just their second regatta to complete the series.
The forecast for Sydney is for similar conditions to Day 2 in Auckland with a fresh seabreeze on Saturday, easing on Sunday.
As a new team, Spithill said Red Bull Italy had not had an easy time getting traction in the SailGP League.
"It's just so overwhelming coming into this competition as a new team for our athlete roster, and going against these guys here."
"You're against the very, very best in the world. These are the hardest boats to sail in the world, and you literally just have to worry about yourself.
"As time goes on we, you know, we some rivalries might set up," he said in reference to competition against his former US SailGP team. "But for us, just to get a good result and to be in the game, going into Sunday, to have a shot at making that Auckland final was fantastic. That's a good mental confidence boost for our team to know that they can do it. And hopefully that gives them a bit of momentum heading into this event in Sydney."
In setting up the new Red Bull Italy team, Spithill made several approaches to members of the former Oracle Racing America's Cup team, who all went into the Tom Slingsby skippered SailGP team when it was one of the five founding teams of the SailGP League five years ago.
Wingsail trimmer Kyle Langford was the only one he was able to entice, with the 2013 America's Cup champion signing a five year contract with the Italians, taking one of the three spots in the sailing team allowed for alien sailors.
"Obviously when Kyle switched to the Italians, we we had a few decisions to make," Australian skipper Tom Slingsby reflected, on his decision to recruit Chris Draper (GBR) an Olympic Bronze medalist in the 49er class and a professional sailor of fortune for several SailGP and America's Cup teams. "We approached some people spoke to them, and while we felt that there's an amazing pipeline of young Australians coming through, but probably not with the experience we needed at this level."
"We felt that it was best to bring Chris on for for a little while, and while allowing the younger sailors get a little bit more experience.
"It's a tough one. If these guys come into this league too young and don't perform or succeed, that they're probably going to get burnt and not make it into the League.
"They might get taken out of the league very quickly and then never get another chance. So we want to make sure that when they do come into the league, they're ready to go, and they can compete at this level and have all the skills necessary.
"So we went with experience, and we feel that Chris could keep us at the top of the fleet. And so far, everything's gelling really well," Slingsby explained.
Asked why they had gone with a Brit and not top local talent like double Olympic Gold medalist, Matt Wearn
"Matt doesn't have the foiling experience. He hasn't trimmed a wing before. There's things like that, but we need to get a pipeline going where these guys can do some practice before they just put on the start line and racing," was Slingsby's response. Apparently the Australian Youth America's Cup team didn't produce the experience Slingsby was seeking - maybe not surprising given that the flight control on an AC40 is fully automated, while the same system is a manual function on the F50s used in SailGP.
Slingsby claimed that Spithill shoulder-tapped multiple people in the Australian team before nabbing Langford.
"If I was him, I'd be doing exactly the same thing," he remarked.
"I said to Jimmy, when he I knew he was approaching Kyle, I said to him, mate, what are you doing? Leave him alone. He's with us. Like, back off.
"And he goes, "Look, we need him. We need him on our team. And we need a someone who's got experiences had success, who can the guys can get behind, and I'm sorry, but I'm going to keep going after him.
"And I said, well, at least you're honest, and thank you for that. And and with Kyle, I said to him, "mate, you've got to do what's right for you."
"I totally understand this. Kyle is an extremely loyal person, and it was very, very hard for him to leave us. He signed a five year deal with these guys, so he's he's thinking long term. He's not just sort of jumping around for money, just trying to get the next big paycheck. He wants to build something new with with Jimmy and the team. And look, my hats off to him, and we'll always be good friends."
There were repeated hints that the head-hunting was no over yet, with several SailGP teams flush with new-investor cash, and with the pressure going on for results - as well of upping the value of investment through improved performance and improved media and fan following.
With the America's Cup seemingly dead in the water after the break up of the Challenger of Record's team INEOS Britannia, and no progress announced with the next Cup after last Friday's Teams Meeting in London, it is likely that more high profile sailors will join the seven Olympic Gold medalists, and four America's Cup co-helms currently racing in the SailGP League. Rumour has it that the SailGP teams pay more than their America's Cup counterparts, and in both circuits the sailors usually follow the money.
Additionally, despite sailing smaller boats, F50s have a larger sailing crew, and less restrictive nationality clause, opening up the opportunities in the high-octane SailGP circuit.
Latest to enter is American Magic skipper and co-helm Paul Goodison, also an Olympic Gold medalist, who arrived in Auckland as a coach for the Mubadala Brazil team and flew out as a strategist for the new team - a role in which he will continue in Sydney.
The German team have also muscled up with the inclusion of double World Match Racing champion, Phil Robertson - who is the Red Adair of the SailGP circuit having been with several teams, always lifting the performance and getting a new/off the pace team onto their feet. Robertson replaces Luna Rossa coach co-ordinator Jacopo Plazzi (ITA). It is not known if the change-out is permanent or temporary.
Robertson comes in as a coach, and in that role in SailGP is entitled to sit in the coaches booth, on the edge of the racecourse with good visibility of the course, plus the benefit of being able to track the German team off the GPS positioning and performance data and offer advice directly into the team comms during the racing. That includes warning his team of developing right of way situations with a competitor, who may be out of the sight-line of his charges.
In his previous role as a co-helm with the Canadian team, Robertson often traded verbal blows in media conferences with south of the border, Taylor Canfield skipper of the USA team. Despite finishing on the podium for the first event in Dubai, the USA team didn't capitalise on their opportunities in Auckland, and need to focus on their own boat in Sydney.
The French SailGP team will make their debut in Sydney in their new Accor partnered F50. The team were supposed to take delivery in Auckland but an issue with the main wing element requiring structural work by the SailGP support team, meant they ran out of time, but picked up points for fifth place in the 11 boat fleet.
Clearly the issue of new T-Foils was off the talking points list for the Media Conference, and after getting milked dry in Auckland, didn't rate a mention three weeks later in Sydney.
The teams will have a practice session on Sydney Harbour on Friday afternoon, before racing commences at 0400hrs UTC on February 8 and 9.