U.S. SailGP Team scores former Great Britain coach Joe Glanfield
by Laura Muma 11 Feb 01:36 GMT
U.S. SailGP Team Coach Joe Glanfield in Miami during the recent team training camp. © Matt Knighton for SailGP
The United States SailGP Team today announced that Joe Glanfield, coach of the Great Britain SailGP Team last season and two-time Olympic medalist, crosses camps to lead the promising all-American squad in Season 2.
"Joe has an incredible resume and reputation as a coach," said U.S. SailGP Team Helmsman Rome Kirby. "The Brits were our biggest rival last year and a very difficult team to beat. It's a big score that he's now on our side; we're excited to combine his F50 experience and our team's potential to make things happen in Season 2."
Glanfield will draw upon his impressive Olympic sailing career to coach the U.S. SailGP Team, having earned two silver medals sailing in the 470 class in 2004 and 2008; while also coaching the British Sailing Team for several years. Since 2016 he's been working alongside top Olympic sailors as a mentor as well as sailing onboard TP52 and Maxi boats.
"There's no question we respected the U.S. SailGP Team and saw them as our biggest rivals in Season 1," said Glanfield. "When Rome called, I was excited about the opportunity to combine our knowledge and experiences from last season to further the performance of this team as it rebuilds. This team's desire to learn and improve is incredibly motivating; all you need to do is be with them for a short time and you are hooked on the energy."
Given the "open source" data sharing amongst teams thanks to the Oracle Cloud interpreting hundreds of sensors onboard the F50, Glanfield joins the team with an incredible amount of knowledge from all teams last season that is already contributing to the new American "playbook".
"We've already had Joe with us at a recent training camp and we can't wait to hit the water with him in Sydney in just over a week," said Kirby.
Glanfield and the U.S. SailGP Team will arrive in Sydney February 17th to prepare for Season 2's kick-off event Feb. 28 - 29. The Americans will have two full weeks of on-water and shoreside training together as they prepare for battle against the six other teams: Australia, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Japan, and Spain.
When asked if the British will be a particular target to beat this year, both Glanfield and Kirby declined to answer, saying that the Americans are out to win races against everyone.
2020 SailGP Schedule
- Sydney, Australia (February 28-29)
- San Francisco, USA (May 2-3)
- New York, USA (June 12-13)
- Cowes, UK (August 14-15)
- Copenhagen, Denmark (September 11-12)