Swiss SailGP Team at Spain Sail Grand Prix this weekend

by Switzerland SailGP Team 23 Sep 2022 22:05 BST 24-25 September 2022

Switzerland SailGP Team helmed by Sebastien Schneiter sail away from the Race Village during a practice session ahead of the Spain Sail Grand Prix in Cadiz, Andalusia, Spain © Ricardo Pinto for SailGP

Just two weeks after racing in Saint-Tropez, Swiss SailGP Team is gearing up for the sixth event of SailGP Season 3 in Cádiz this weekend. The Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía - Cádiz presented by NEAR takes place 24-25 September and marks the halfway stage of the season, as well as the final event of the European leg of the league.

Six fleet races are scheduled along with a winner takes all final on Sunday afternoon, featuring the top three teams of the event. All the action will be streamed live in Switzerland on Blue Sports / Blue Zoom and YouTube at 16:00 CEST both race days.

The team first hit the water today, lining up with the fleet for a series of practice races. Sébastien Schneiter, the youngest driver ever in the league, is back at the wheel in Cadiz whilst co-driver and sailing advisor, Nathan Outteridge, supports the team remotely.

Switzerland SailGP Team in action during a practise race ahead of the Spain Sail Grand Prix in Cadiz, Andalusia, Spain - photo © Ricardo Pinto for SailGP

Schneiter gives an update on the team, "It's been an amazing opportunity to be able to share the driver position with Nathan [Outteridge] over the past few events. For me, it's been so interesting to be training and racing in different roles on the boat. The only way I could do this is because we have great depth in our squad. It's been good experience and I'm looking forward to getting back driving again this weekend.

"I think we have made a lot of progress thanks to Nathan's support and one area we have been progressing a lot is on the boat handling. We have a lot more tools that make us able to race better and to improve our starts.

On racing in Cadiz, "It's a great racing venue; I've sailed here in the past for my Olympic campaigns, and you can get anything condition wise, so for sure it's going to be another interesting and challenging event for our team this weekend!"

Stuart Bithell and Jason Saunders continue to race in the wing trimmer and flight controller roles, respectively, and rotating in the grinder positions are Julien Rolaz, Jeremy Bachelin and Nils Theuninck. Theuninck stands in for Eliot Merceron who is injured.

Switzerland SailGP Team - photo © Tomas Moya

Laurane Mettraux and Nathalie Brugger will share the 'P6' strategist position over the weekend. For three times Olympian, Brugger, today was her first time ever onboard the F50. "It was really fun to finally get onboard today! We were doing around 35 knots; I was a little disappointed not to reach 50 knots... but there's still time!

"I was in P6 and also had a go at steering, which was great, I learnt a lot. The conditions were fairly light out there, it was a patchy day, so it was a little less full on than it could have been, but that's probably a good place to start. It's great to be here in Cadiz and I hope I can bring something to the team during the racing this weekend."

Off the water the Swiss continue to make gains, finishing the SailGP Saint-Tropez Impact League in second place. The team is supported by its main partner and Race for the Future partner, WE Foundation and together champion equal opportunities to achieve.

After Cadiz, the league takes a short break before heading to Dubai for the Sail Grand Prix presented by P&O Marinas (12-13 November).

For more information visit sailgp.com/teams/switzerland.

Switzerland SailGP Spain line up: