Please select your home edition
Edition
Hyde Sails 2022 One Design SALE LEADERBOARD
Product Feature
The Offshore Race Crew's Manual by Stuart Quarrie
The Offshore Race Crew's Manual by Stuart Quarrie

SailGP season opener serves and frustrates in equal measure

by Mark Jardine 26 Apr 2021 11:07 BST 24-25 April 2021

Firstly, I take my hat off to the logistics team at SailGP that the event happened at all. With a Covid lockdown in Bermuda and the general difficulties in travel, getting eight international teams and the paraphernalia to a small island in the North Atlantic was no mean feat.

If that wasn't complex enough, the production, commentary and umpiring team were in London. All the data had to be transmitted in near real-time to and fro between the two locations. This did of course result in delays during post-race Q&As with the skippers, but it worked. With a split commentary team there were the inevitable pauses and points of talking over each other, but as we all know with Zoom calls, these are pretty much unavoidable.

There were also a few issues with graphic overlays on day one, with shadows appearing in the wrong place and boat telemetry juddering, but these were mostly ironed out for Sunday's racing which, all in all, was much smoother.

The line-up of sailors is truly world-class. Ben Ainslie, Peter Burling, Tom Slingsby, Jimmy Spithill, Nathan Outteridge, Billy Besson and many more are gracing the racecourse and doing their best to tame the F50 beasts. The sailors went all-out, resulting in a few hairy moments and collisions; the worst being Nathan Outteridge's Japanese team entanglement with Jimmy Spithill's USA team.

The use of kilometres per hour instead of knots was an out-and-out disaster, which was further compounded by the speed in kph being displayed as knots in race one. I have no doubt that this was a smart idea from a marketing guru to appeal to the masses. All it did was confuse and alienate the core audience of sailors, who - if they're anything like me - spent time typing speeds into Google to get the equivalent in knots.

Was this to make the speeds look higher than the AC75? If so, it didn't work. Please can we return to knots for SailGP event 2, so that the excellent Freddie Carr doesn't have to say, "That's 33 knots in old money," again on the commentary? His insights were superb throughout the racing, as were Stevie Morrison's, but you could almost hear the sigh every time he had to utter that phrase.

SailGP is taking sailing coverage to the next level and we're incredibly lucky to have a benefactor like Larry Ellison who is willing to back sailing in this manner. I have no doubt the team will learn fast from this season opener.

Replay the live coverage (this may be currently blocked in your region due to rights restrictions)

Day 1

Day 2

Related Articles

Thank God he didn't!
Back at Sandringham YC in 2014, I met a strapping young West Australian... Back at Sandringham Yacht Club, in December of 2014, I got to meet a strapping young West Australian lad. Incredibly personable and quite worldly already, especially considering his years, Matt Wearn was a delight to speak with. Posted on 27 Mar
Risk and reward
Much more than a port tack flyer or banging a corner I've yet to meet a keen sailor who hasn't at some point banged a corner, usually after a poor start, and come out top at the windward mark. Nine times out of ten it won't work, but that one time where it does certainly brings out the smiles. Posted on 20 Mar
Edward Woodward
He played Lieutenant (Henry Harbord) Harry ‘The Breaker' Morant in the film. He played Lieutenant (Henry Harbord) Harry ‘The Breaker' Morant in the Bruce Beresford film depiction of the famed bush poet's execution during the Second Boer War. Woodward was utterly superb at it, too. Posted on 12 Mar
When did you discover Henri-Lloyd?
For me it was as a kid in 1982 at the London Boat Show 60 years, six decades, three score. However you say it, it's a long time, especially when so much has changed in the intervening years since 1963. Throughout that time there has been a single watchword summing up Henri-Lloyd: Innovation. Posted on 10 Mar
Simply the Best: 5o5 celebration at Hayling Island
The last great 'untold' narrative of dinghy development It is one of those sadder facts for our long established 'senior' classes, that when they were first developed, no one could have envisaged that they would still be at the forefront of our sport a lifetime later. Posted on 7 Mar
It may not be the biggest...
It's no secret that I'm a massive fan of the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show It's no secret that I'm a massive fan of the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show, held in the UK on the final weekend of February. Posted on 6 Mar
What was intriguing at the RYA Dinghy Show 2023?
Remote operated self-bailers set one man's heart a flutter Determined not to let moving house (the day before) put him off, YachtsandYachting.com's website developer, Magnus Smith, attended his favourite boat show during the last weekend in February. Posted on 6 Mar
The Wise Man of the West
Another of our first generation 'greats' has left us - Alec Stone Another of our first generation 'greats' has left us. The name of Alec Stone is hardly an oft featured favourite, yet he should not be forgotten as he had become one of the great links to an era of sailing and boatbuilding that is now long past. Posted on 5 Mar
Not a bag of liquorice
There was a standout notion. That would be all sorts, hence the title. However, after one of the many conversations I have with our Managing Editor, Mark Jardine there was a standout notion. That would be all sorts, hence the title. Posted on 27 Feb
'Simply the Best'
We talk to Dougal Henshall about his 5o5 tome For many years now the story of one of the sport's most iconic dinghies, the 5o5, has been shrouded in something of a mystery. Where did that wonderful reverse flared hull shape come from? Posted on 26 Feb