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SailGP Teams, Back at Full Strength, Power to the $1 Million Prize

Japan is the leader as racing begins in Cádiz, and with crews back from the Olympics, boats now have their A-teams.

catamaran racing team

By David Schmidt

With $1 million and a season’s title up for grabs, attracting some of the world’s best sailors to SailGP was easy. But, with the allure of the Olympics and one star sailor’s paternity leave, keeping them on the boats for every race has been harder.

SailGP’s second season began in April in Bermuda, where eight teams from as many countries competed aboard identical F50 catamarans. The 36th America’s Cup had just concluded, so crew members who had competed in that regatta had time to return to their SailGP teams for the start of the season.

But then came the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and some SailGP teams were stripped of their best sailors as they headed for Japan. The Great Britain SailGP Team also lost Ben Ainslie , its driver, who had won an America’s Cup and five Olympic medals, for two events when he took leave around the birth of his son.

The absences caused the racing in Italy in June and Britain in July to be less competitive.

“The fact of the matter is, in any sport, if you don’t have your best athletes who you can field on the field, you’re more than likely not going to get as strong a result,” said Russell Coutts, SailGP’s chief executive and a five-time America’s Cup winner. “You can’t just sub a good sailor in that hasn’t had the training on a F50. The teams that have tried that this year, it hasn’t worked, it’s failed.”

But the top talent, including Ainslie , returned before the regattas in Denmark in August and France in September, and now — with just three left in Season 2 — competition is stiffening ahead of the regatta in Spain, which will take place at Cádiz on Saturday and Sunday.

The teams will be seeking to increase their chances of qualifying for the season finale in San Francisco next March. Only the three highest-ranked teams will advance to the Grand Final, which comes with the championship title and that $1 million.

Ainslie’s team is in fourth place. Asked if the absence of top sailors had made a difference in the level of competition, he said, “How much of a difference, that’s arguable, but definitely [it] would have made a difference.”

Instead, Ainslie points to the teamwork needed to sail these boats at top form as more critical. “That’s just as important, if not more important, than who’s steering the thing,” he said.

Teamwork may be crucial aboard boats that race on hydrofoils at highway speeds, but losing a significant percentage of A-listers early in the season was still challenging.

“The positive parts of having so many Olympians on your team is that you have an incredibly high level of sailing talent in the group,” said Peter Burling , driver of the New Zealand SailGP Team , which is in sixth place. “We had five out of our team competing at the Olympics.”

This group included Burling and Blair Tuke , the team’s wing trimmer. They arrived in SailGP after helping Emirates Team New Zealand win the America’s Cup, but left after Bermuda for the Olympics, where they won silver .

“The Olympics ended up right in the middle of SailGP season, and there’s a lot of us on the team [for whom] the Olympics and Tokyo had been a goal for a long time,” Tuke said. “So that was where the priority lay, but now that’s fully shifted and everyone is focused.”

Focus matters, but so do results.

“You could say it was definitely difficult,” Burling said about maintaining leadership continuity throughout the season. Despite the team’s standing, he sees its Olympic involvement as a positive. “It really does help sharpen your skills.”

Coutts did not agree and said the Olympic timeout had “been a disadvantage.”

“You’re racing against the best guys in the world,” he said “If you give them more time against you, you’re going to get hurt, aren’t you?”

Time matters greatly. SailGP’s rules restrict each team’s on-the-water practices. Unlike Olympic-class boats, F50s regularly see 90-knot closing speeds, so learning curves are steep, and experience brings results.

“The biggest thing is really, how consistent can you keep your roster?” said Jimmy Spithill, a two-time America’s Cup winner and the driver of the United States SailGP Team. “This fleet is very short time as it is — there’s not very much practice, you can’t really train between the events — so the time you spend together is very important.”

The boats, which cost about $4 million each, are identical. Larry Ellison, a two-time America’s Cup winner and the founder of Oracle, is the majority owner of SailGP. Ellison also owns seven of the teams, Coutts said. The boats may be the same, but how each team sails them is not. So much of practice is spent developing a playbook of choreographed maneuvers.

“We feel a lot more competitive now than we were in Bermuda,” said Rome Kirby , an America’s Cup winner and the United States SailGP Team’s flight controller. It is “time in the boat, time together as a team.” And time spent polishing the playbook. “You need to do it together. There’s no cheat code.”

Each boat is equipped with electronic sensors that constantly gather data and send it to an Oracle-run cloud where it is available — along with onboard video footage and audio from microphones worn by the crew — to all the teams.

“It speeds up the learning and therefore the competitiveness,” Coutts said about the shared data.

Teams also receive the same hardware and software upgrades. “No one can completely dominate, because you can’t get every decision right,” he said. “The fact that the boats are so close in performance, even with the technique differences, means that we see different winners at events regularly.

“The design teams are just continuously working on improving the performance of the boats, and also we’re looking at the racing and seeing how” it can be enhanced it, Coutts said.

So the boats constantly evolve, but if sailors miss events, they can find themselves and their team less competitive. Spithill said the entire fleet was more competitive now because crews “have more races and more time on the boats.”

Japan is currently on top of the standings, followed by the United States and Australia, which are tied. Those three teams are separated by just two points.

“All of the teams are acutely aware that we’re halfway through the season and every race is critical,” Coutts said. “There’s definitely an added dimension to that.”

This awareness and the bolstered rosters mean that racing in Spain, and beyond, should intensify.

“We’re at a point now where we’re very similar to the crews that people sailed with in Bermuda,” Burling said. “And I think each team had their best foot forward in Bermuda.”

While having stronger teams is great for fans, it is telling that even some teams that are led by America’s Cup- and Olympic-winning sailors have not even managed to finish in third place this season.

“SailGP is probably one of the most competitive classes or circuits” in the world right now, Kirby said. “I would say that it’s probably more competitive than the America’s Cup.”

SailGP also puts something else in play: serious money.

When asked what was the bigger motivator — the title or the cash — teams had different answers.

“The prize purse is something that would be very nice to split around the team, but for us, the focus is definitely on trying to win the competition,” Burling said.

Others are more pragmatic.

“I mean, how could you not be motivated for a million dollars?” said Spithill, whose team has battled adversity this season, including collisions, a capsize and a serious injury, yet is still in second place. And if other teams do not care about the money, “then no worries, we won’t give them the million dollars.”

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Spithill skippers Team USA to a SailGP win three weeks after losing a crewman to injury

This photo provided by SailGP shows the USA SailGP team as they spray champagne to celebrate winning the Spain Sail Grand Prix in Cadiz, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. (Ricardo Pinto/SailGP via AP)

This photo provided by SailGP shows the USA SailGP team as they spray champagne to celebrate winning the Spain Sail Grand Prix in Cadiz, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. (Ricardo Pinto/SailGP via AP)

In this image provided by SailGP, USA SailGP Team helmed by Jimmy Spithill leads Australia SailGP Team helmed by Tom Slingsby and ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team helmed by Nicolai Sehested on Race Day 2 of the Spain Sail Grand Prix in Cadiz, Spain., Sunday, Oct 15 2023. (Bob Martin/SailGP via AP)

In this image provided by SailGP, USA SailGP Team helmed by Jimmy Spithill on Race Day 2 of the Spain Sail Grand Prix in Cadiz, Spain., Sunday, Oct 15 2023. (Bob Martin/SailGP via AP)

In this image provided by SailGP, USA SailGP Team celebrate winning the Spain Sail Grand Prix onboard the USA SailGP Team F50 catamaran on Race Day 2 of the Spain Sail Grand Prix in Cadiz, Spain., Sunday, Oct 15 2023. (Ricardo Pinto/SailGP via AP)

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jimmy Spithill barely made it into the podium race and then brilliantly skippered Team USA to victory in the Spain Sail Grand Prix Cádiz on Sunday, three weeks after crewman Hans Henken was seriously injured .

Spithill dedicated Team USA’s first victory of SailGP’s fourth season to Henken, the flight controller who was knocked unconscious when the team’s 50-foot catamaran crashed hard off its foils on the first day of the regatta at Taranto, Italy. Henken was hospitalized for two nights with unspecified injuries and now is back in the United States recovering.

Spithill overcame a pre-start penalty, sailed into a huge lead on the second leg and finished a full leg ahead of Nicolai Sehested of ROCKWOOL Denmark and three-time defending SailGP champion Tom Slingsby of Team Australia. The victory boosted Team USA into third place in the season standings in tech titan Larry Ellison’s global league, 11 points behind Australia and four behind Denmark.

“It was such a massive blow for the team in Italy and a tough moment for us all to go through,” said Spithill, who’s best known for twice winning the America’s Cup with Ellison’s Oracle Team USA. “But it also inspired us and gave us a real amount of purpose for this event. We dedicate this win to Hans.”

Tom Slingsby, CEO and driver of Australia SailGP Team, and Kyle Langford, wing trimmer, celebrate as they win the KPMGAustralia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, Australia. Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. (Felix Diemer/SailGP via AP)

Henken, a Stanford grad who is campaigning for the Paris Olympics as well as competing in SailGP, said he was touched by the tribute. “The entire team has put in a ton of effort and it’s awesome to see all the hard work paying off,” Henken said through the team. “Each team is bigger than the individuals; I’m grateful for all the support and honored to be a part of this team and this win.”

Match racing ace Taylor Canfield filled in as flight controller for this regatta, although he wasn’t on the boat Sunday as the crews were reduced to four due to light wind.

Spithill both steered and flew the boat Sunday. He took a boundary penalty in the podium race prestart and had to fall in behind the Aussies and Danes. But he saw those teams lock into a duel and sail into light wind, which allowed him to sail clear and spring to a huge lead.

“Nothing pretty about that start — it was 100% my fault,” said Spithill, an Australian who lives full-time in San Diego with his American wife and their two sons. “I didn’t see the boundary, but as it turns out, that worked in our favor. For the teams in front at mark 1, the wind had started to go light, so we were able to jibe and lead them out of there. And that was really the race.

“Things like that don’t faze this team,” Spithill said. “It’s something we’ve built up; it doesn’t matter where we are, we’re going to fight all the way to the end.”

Strategist Erika Reineke moved to grinder in the four-person configuration, working the handles to produce power to adjust the wingsail.

“This weekend means a lot,” Reineke said. “It marks my one-year anniversary with the team and this year it’s full circle that we take the win together. I love racing with the guys and look forward to what’s next.”

It was also the second anniversary of the Women’s Pathway Program, and Spithill handed Reineke the steering wheel trophy before the sailors sprayed each other with sparkling wine.

In the fifth and final fleet race, with the third spot in the podium race up for grabs, an error by Spithill allowed New Zealand’s Peter Burling to get ahead at a mark rounding. But Burling, the two-time reigning America’s Cup champion helmsman, got caught in traffic in the 10-boat fleet and copped a penalty for not keeping clear of Emirates Great Britain. That let Spithill sail clear for a fourth-place finish that locked up a spot in the final.

Follow Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson

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At just 18, this Hawaii sailor is securing her spot in catamaran racing history

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Hawaii’s CJ Perez competes at the highest level of catamaran racing.

That’s pretty amazing considering she started sailing just five years ago — when her parents signed her up for a sailing camp.

“I think in the beginning I just really loved the freedom that it gave me, and I loved how fast the boats went,” she said.

The Punahou graduate’s hydrofoil sailing career is on a fast track. She’s the first woman ever to make Team USA’s SailGP pro team, and the first to race in the global sailing championship.

“I knew I had the foiling experience, and I also had a few championship titles to back me, so I put my name in there. I’m really glad I did because I was selected,” she said.

Sail grand prix is the major league of hydrofoil racing. The catamarans sit high on foils and fly over the ocean, reaching speeds up to 60 mph.

Her job is to be the team’s eyes and ears.

“When you’re going full speed and the water splashes you, it feels like a fire hose,” she said.

CJ is also the first Latina female in the pro ranks. At 18, she’s the youngest sailor to ever make Team USA.

“I love this sport. Being a part of SailGP is a breathtaking experience,” she said.

The team just competed in Spain and is ranked second in the world, with a good shot at the million-dollar grand prize next year in San Francisco.

CJ is eager to get back on the water.

“I’m super grateful that I’ve been given this platform where I can not only represent Team USA but also Hawaii on such a global scale,” she said.

In case you’re wondering, CJ is short for Catherine Jean. In the ultra-competitive world of SailGP and in a very short time, she’s made quite a name for herself.

Copyright 2021 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

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Other Sports | Photos: Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final…

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Other Sports | Photos: Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final practice of world’s fastest sailboats in San Francisco

F50 catamarans are the world’s fastest boats.

Jane Tyska, photojournalist, The East Bay Times, for the Wordpress profile. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

The Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final kicks off in San Francisco this weekend with some of the best sailors in the world from nine countries, Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland and the United States vying for the championship.

The weekend’s racing will decide who will compete against Season 3 leader Australia in the Grand Final race, a winner-take-all, final sprint to claim the $1 million grand prize. The U.S. SailGP Team, helmed by sailing legend Jimmy Spithill, is mathematically unable to qualify for the Grand Final, but hopes to win the weekend Grand Prix on home turf.

The event will also include onshore entertainment and activities for fans in the Marina Green Race Village, including live music, food and beverage vendors, and interactive exhibits. To purchase limited tickets and learn more, see their website www.sailgp.com .

Team USA practices on their F50 catamaran in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Nine teams from across the globe are competing to decide the overall season champion this weekend during the Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

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Catamaran Racing In Paradise

  • By Todd Riccardi
  • April 1, 2022

Cata Cup race

With St. Barts’ Gustavia Harbor disappearing behind us and the island’s mountainous terrain towering to our right, it feels so good to be sailing into the beautiful Caribbean Sea with a gusty 15-knot breeze and calm seas. Wind and spray rid us of three days of the sweaty boatwork we’ve put in to get our Formula 18 catamaran out of the shipping container, to the beach and meticulously rigged for the St. Barth Cata Cup.

We cruise the coast for a few miles and take in the sights, and suddenly find ourselves in the hard-hitting Atlantic Ocean. We’ve never sailed an F18 in anything like this, with 15-foot whitecapped rollers all around us. Launching off the crest and back down into the troughs of these giants is thrilling, but in the back of my mind, I’m starting to wonder how competitive we’ll be in these crazy conditions. As first-timers to this Cata Cup thing, we might just be out of our league.

The time comes for our first tack. My crew Matt Keenan, who I had pulled back into catamaran sailing after a hiatus, was rediscovering his trapeze skills when he swings into the boat, catches his foot in the hiking strap and tears it right off the trampoline. After a deep breath, I say aloud, “Well, we are going to have to do better than that.”

Keenan agrees, and a few heart-racing miles later we turn it into St. Jean Bay, point our bows toward the white, sandy strip, and run it up like a real beach-cat landing. We’ve arrived in the epicenter of the Cata Cup. It’s 2012, and I’m about to begin a 10-year run of participating in the best catamaran regatta in the world.

A truly one-of-a-kind event, the St. Barth Cata Cup began as a competition between Caribbean-based ­catamaran teams, but was reborn in 2008 as an open catamaran regatta. The switch to Formula 18s came a year later. This “modern version,” as sailors and organizers call it, is the brainchild of a group of locals who formed St. Barth Multihulls. This was the group with a vision to bring professional and amateur cat sailors from around the world to their island. But they didn’t just create another buoy-racing regatta. Their idea of fun is four days of exhilarating distance races, or “raids,” in big winds and big waves matched onshore by world-class social activities.

Competitive racing in a legit, high-caliber international class—in an exotic location and for an absurdly low entry fee—is too good to be true. For the roughly $1,200 entry fee, organizers house us, feed us, provide a rental car, and even ship our boat from Miami.

The hype surrounding the event is noticeable everywhere on the island: Local sponsors go all in, and the community ensures everyone has an amazing time, welcoming the sailors as if they were family. It’s been this way right on up to the 2021 edition, which hosted 62 teams, myself included for the fifth time since 2012. In 2017, only two months after a direct hit from Hurricane Irma, which destroyed buildings and stripped nearly every tree bare of its leaves, organizers made the event happen without missing a beat. Every year, they come back with surprises and changes—from the parties to the racecourses. The event is never exactly the same, and every competitor leaves wanting to come back for more. And it’s also why entry is a lottery, which opens seven months out from the regatta, with many teams not making the cut.

On the morning of my first Cata Cup race back in 2012, I recall the regatta’s principal race officer sounding a horn to gather the competitors around an easel with a big chart and an outline of the course explained in French. Our interpretation of the course is a bit confused, but given our rough delivery sail the day before, we agree to approach the first race conservatively. We have no expectations of actually leading, so our strategy is to follow the boats ahead of us. The only thing we’re certain of is that the windward mark will be set off La Tortue, an aptly named turtle-shaped rock. We’ll just sail in that general direction.

At the start, the wind peaks at 15 knots, and the waves are down to 10 feet. These are new conditions for us, and after sailing upwind for 20 minutes, we stare at a giant pile of rocks awash in the big waves. We realize then that there is no mark. The rocks are the mark. There is no one in front of us.

So much for following the boats ahead of us.

We forge on between La Tortue and the rock pile, oblivious to how close we can go before we have to tack. In this harried moment of uncertainty, Olympian and Volvo Ocean Race veteran Carolijn Brouwer is closing in fast. I’m pretty sure she’s telling us to tack, and I respond, “You first!”

It was a great lesson to learn the adrenaline and skill it takes to navigate the courses at this event, and that you can sail quite close to most of the rocks.

The local sponsorship works by partnering with a team and putting signage on the boats. As luck would have it, we scored the famous and posh Nikki Beach Club, which is right next door to the regatta headquarters, where the majority of the boats sail from. With one or two raids per day, all the competitors return to shore in between races for a satisfying supplied lunch, some beach recovery, and even a nap if needed.

It’s all very civilized, but well-deserved after beating up our bodies every race. Each year, the round-the-island race serves as the pinnacle of the event. Weaving in and out of bays and tearing out into the big seas, there’s a magical mixture of upwind crashing through waves, blast jib reaching, and cruising through pristine waters on the south side of the island. While an opportunity to take in the beautiful scenery, the competitive spirit remains tense to keep racing until the end. On this particular race around, we enjoy a tight battle with Olympian and catamaran legend Enrique Figueroa. Trust me, we’re more than ecstatic to place second to “Quique.” And to top it off, as soon as our bows tap the powder-soft sand, hostesses from our boat sponsor Nikki Beach serve us chilled Champagne. It’s all a bit surreal and unexpected, the overall theme of this event that you must learn to embrace.

While many regattas have a party, the Cata Cup sets a new bar after each day of sailing, with dinner served and followed by a concert from top entertainers. Daily winners are called on stage and given a bottle of fine local rum. And after the prizes are doled out, the band that’s been jetted in for the night ignites the dance floor. During their set break, a slick, professionally edited video projects onto an oversize inflatable screen on the beach. It’s a visual feast of tropical high- performance cat sailing—as if we need to be reminded how lucky we are.

Every time I go and as soon as I step on the island, the smile on my face is permanent for days—no, weeks—afterward. All of us have regatta memories, but this has become a dream I want to relive every year. Thankfully, there are plenty of event videos to hold me over until next year.

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'Bloody scary' but 'a hell of a load of fun': On board the 'mind-blowing' 60 mph F50 catamaran

If you have ever travelled in a car, that most typical of daily tasks, the chances are you will know what moving at 60 miles per hour feels like..

But do you have any idea how it feels to be out on the waves on one of SailGP’s cutting-edge F50 catamarans, hitting nearly 60 mph as the elements do all they can to win this battle of nature vs technology?

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For the lucky few, those elite athletes on the SailGP roster, the answer to that question is yes.

But for the rest of us, we can only watch on with envy; we jealously observe, awestruck at the speed of these miraculous creations, and just try to imagine how it feels to fly one of the most revolutionary racing machines ever designed.

Unfortunately, we cannot fulfil that dream of yours – to live first-hand the on-board F50 experience.

We can do the next best thing, however; we can hear from those who have been aboard these remarkable boats as they hit breakneck speeds as part of SailGP’s cutting-edge sail racing league.

Episode two of the new docuseries SailGP: Racing on the Edge in partnership with Rolex focuses on the race to 50 knots, with the athletes involved having their say on this record-breaking achievement.

THE F50 CATAMARAN

First things first, let’s take a tour of the F50 and learn just how much goes into flying one of these state of the art creations.

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The F50 is a technological marvel, boasting cutting-edge technology to make it a remarkably fast boat in the annals of sailing history. The standard wing is 24m, though it can be altered to suit wind conditions, while the foils are constructed with high modulus carbon fiber and the lower section of the rudders are manufactured using high-strength stainless steel to reduce drag.

Not only is SailGP the most cutting-edge sail racing league in the world, we also strive to accelerate change to a cleaner and more inclusive future through our Race for the Future initiative. The F50s are front and centre of this vision, as they produce thrilling racing at each SailGP event while being Powered by Nature.

BREAKING THE 50-KNOT BARRIER

The F50 has an estimated top speed of 52+ knots (60 mph), and the Australia SailGP Team holds the honour of becoming the first crew to break the 50 knot barrier in sail racing, doing so at Cowes, UK in August 2019.

“I was surprised actually, as I thought the 50 knot barrier would be broken in San Francisco,” says SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts in episode two of SailGP: Racing on the Edge . “And then when we got strong winds again in Cowes, I was pretty certain it would be broken.”

All the build-up to Cowes was focused on hitting 50 knots, and the Great Britain SailGP Team managed it in practice - only to later see Tom Slingsby claim the official record as he helmed the Australians to 50 knots while crossing the finish line of the first race.

“We had a day’s practice racing on the Wednesday,” begins Dylan Fletcher, ex-helmsman for the British team. “That was actually my fondest memory of Cowes, because we did two practice races and won both comfortably and there were thousands of spectators who came out to watch.

“To be honest, we nearly pitchpoled the boat on the way in trying to hit 50 knots, but we just did it and hit 50 knots - and we didn’t even realise at the time. We weren't looking at the speedo, we were just heads down, focusing, and holding on for dear life!”

Fletcher certainly made the most of the achievement - by ‘winding everybody up’ in Nathan Outteridge’s words - and he even signed his name on the Brits' F50.

This elicited various responses from the rival teams, including a slightly salty Slingsby.

“We’re sitting here on shore and it’s not really a fair playing field as we’re not allowed to be out there training with them,” says the Australian helm. “They are given all the tools to break it and we are not, so that’s the way I think of it.”

Slingsby and the Aussies got the last laugh though, winning the first race in Cowes and hitting 50 knots to set a new speed record for sail racing - and celebrations were even sweeter as the previously jubilant Brits capsized and coudn’t race again for the remainder of the day!

This was a stark reminder that the F50 can truly reward those who sail it perfectly, but punish those who make even the slightest of errors.

THE F50 EXPERIENCE

When the Australians hit 50 knots in Cowes, the team's F50 was travelling at a remarkable 57.5 mph.

But how did it feel to be on board the F50 as it broke the 50 knot barrier? Slingsby made clear his feelings shortly after the race.

“I was definitely s---ing myself,” said the Australia helm in post-race footage highlighting the incredible achievement.

Phil Robertson, helmsman for Spain SailGP Team in Season 2 , has been similarly forthright with his description of flying an F50.

“It’s bloody scary, to be honest," admitted Robertson.

Saskia Clark, the British Olympian, got her chance on the F50 in the build-up to Sydney SailGP in February 2020.

“It’s mind-blowing,” said Clark of her F50 experience. “When you turn the corners, you feel like your head might fall off and you have to hold it on! When you do the turns up and the tacks it is a totally different sensation.”

The F50 might be ‘mind-blowing’ and ‘bloody scary’, but Sir Ben Ainslie could not contain his excitement at helming one of these technological marvels ahead of his SailGP debut with the British team on Sydney Harbour last year.

“It’s a real privilege to sail these boats,” said Ainslie. “Sometimes you have to pinch yourself. It’s a pretty wild ride, and a hell of a load of fun.”

The second episode of SailGP: Racing on the Edge in partnership with Rolex is available to watch BELOW, as well as on the SailGP YouTube channel and SailGP Facebook page.

Racing on the Edge // How not to crash

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Broadco MTI Sold, New Owners Going Super Cat Racing

For a couple of races and maybe more this season in the American Power Boat Association Offshore National Championship Series, which begins May 19-22 in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Super Cat-class offshore racing fans will have another familiar boat to watch. The 2014 Super Boat International Superboat-class world championship-winning Broadco MTI catamaran has been sold to Will and Tina Rodgers of Daytona Beach, Fla., and they plan to compete in the Super Cat class.

catamaran racing team

Thanks to new owners Will and Tina Rodgers, the Super Cat-class Broadco catamaran has a new home in Daytona Beach. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix .

The couple purchased the 40-footer from Chuck and Kellie Broaddus of St. Clair, Mich., and they come from the world of drag racing—both boats and cars. Will Rodgers will throttle the 40-footer. A former marine mechanic and current engine man, he brings extensive mechanical experience to the cockpit. Tina Rodgers, a world record-holding Top Fuel Jet Boat driver, will drive.

“We want to hit a couple of venues this season,” said Will Rodgers, who is still involved with a Top Fuel-class National Hot Rod Association drag racing team on a “consulting” level. “We went to a couple of events last year and met Myrick Coil, Gary Stray and Steve Curtis, and they were all very encouraging. And I have to thank (former Miss GEICO throttleman) Scott Begovich for putting my wife in the Miss GEICO cockpit a few years ago. She got the bug for it.”

catamaran racing team

Tina and Will Rodgers plan to start their Super Cat-class entry with a few races this season.

No longer Broadco , the catamaran will run as Dramatized Offshore Racing and will be dressed in new graphics. A lifelong powerboat enthusiast, Rodgers said that though he and his wife will take things gradually during this their rookie season, they plan to be competitive. At some point, he may build Super Cat engines of his own, though for now he is sticking with the twin 750-hp Scorpion mills that came with the boat.

“I don’t want to show up and be embarrassed,” he said. “I want our competitors to be worried about us . It’s a good, safe boat, and a really fast boat.”

Said Grant Bruggemann, the Broadco team’s throttleman and team manager during its world-championship season, “It’s an awesome boat. I’m happy to hear it’s coming back to the racecourse and we will have another boat in the Super Cat class.

“Just don’t forget to hold your line in turn No. 1,” he added, then laughed.

Though the Broadco cat has been for sale since 2015, Chuck and Kellie Broaddus refused to move it part by part. They wanted to sell it as a complete offshore raceboat ready for Super Cat-class competition and they accomplished that goal. Still, the finality of the sale and this weekend’s delivery in Daytona Beach was bittersweet.

“I cried when we drove away,” said Kellie Broaddus. “So many great friends and so many great memories.”

Added her husband, “We wish Will and Tina the very best. If they put their hearts and souls into it, the former Broadco boat will continue its legacy.”

The Broaddus family was already thinking about selling the cat after its world championship season in 2014, but the team’s first race of the 2015 season in Cocoa Beach, Fla., cemented that decision. During that event, Broaddus and then- Broadco throttleman Grant Bruggemann caught a sponson and barrel-rolled twice. The entire experience, from the crash itself to the expense of repairing a badly damaged raceboat, was enough for them to put the cat on the market.

catamaran racing team

Check out the sequence of Broadco’s roll in Cocoa Beach, Fla., in 2015. Photos courtesy of the Broadco team.

“Our luck ran out, a bad wave put us on our lid,” Chuck Broaddus said. “But that’s part of boat racing, and the process of wrecking and putting it back together rounded out our boat-racing career.”

Between the couple’s insistence that their MTI be sold as a compete Super Cat-class raceboat and the skinny market for such products, the Broadco cat took years to finally sell. In 2019, Chuck Broaddus ran it in a few races with throttleman Chris Hanley of New Zealand in preparation for the Race World Offshore -produced Offshore World Championships in Key West, Fla. Broaddus and Hanley took second place in Wednesday’s contest and the checkered flag on Friday. A fuel pump issue knocked them out of Sunday’s double-points contest and landed them in fourth place overall.

catamaran racing team

With first- and second-place finishes at the 2019 Race World Offshore World Championships in Key West, Fla., the Broadco team proved its MTI catamaran was still a formidable competitor.

But it was an outstanding performance by the entire Broadco team and a fine high-note on which to end an equally fine offshore racing career. While competing against the likes of Billy Mauff and Jay Muller in WHM Motorsports and the late J.R. Noble of STIHL team fame were among the highlights for the team during the years, the 2019 season may well have been the most enjoyable during its 10 years in the sport.

“That was the most fun we ever had racing,” said Chuck Broaddus. “It was such a relaxed week with Chris Hanley and his family.”

catamaran racing team

Enjoy more images of the Broadco team in the slideshow above.

“We are sad to see them leave the Super Cat class, and offshore racing in general, as they were great stewards of the sport and amazing people to have raced alongside,” said Tyler Miller, the owner and throttleman of the M CON team and Super Cat owners group representative. “We wish the best to Chuck and Kellie and the entire Broadco team on their future endeavors.”

Though a high-performance center console is in the near future for Chuck and Kellie Broaddus, offshore powerboat racing will forever be part of their personal fabric. They plan to attend a few races this season as fans.

“We are going to miss everybody in offshore racing, but particularly our Super Cat teammates and fellow competitors,” said Chuck Broaddus. “Super Cat is a family, and they invited us into that family wholeheartedly. We are going to miss all of them, but we’ll still go to a few races here and there.

“That’s not to say we wouldn’t consider racing in the future if all the stars aligned,” he continued. “But for now, at least, we’re at the end of an era. We created a legacy with the Broadco boat, and hopefully the new owners will be able to carry it on.”

catamaran racing team

Said Chuck Broaddus, “Super Cat is a family and they invited us into that family wholeheartedly .”

Related stories Broadco Team Exploring Options For 2021 Broadco Takes First, CR Racing Repeats And More During Second Day Of Key West Action Commentary: Welcome Back Broadco Broadco Returning To Key West Broadco Coming Back With 2019 Season ‘Reunion Tour’ Key West Worlds Finale Race 4: Broadco Comes Through To Win Superboat Class

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December 24th, 2012 - season wrap up.

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This December marks the close of the most successful season of any US F18 team ever!  No coincidence then, that it is also the end of our Team Ronstan 2012 season.  Huge thanks to all of our fleet, friends, family, and fans for your part in the fun we've had  Additionally, Nacra and Ronstan/FSE Robline deserve huge thanks for partnering with our team as well for the tireless work they do to support the sport. This year brought continued new growth to our local fleet, burgeoned by a strong, fun reputation and new opportunities for F18 exposure.  The growing excitement for multihull racing in the New England area has allowed the F18 fleet to establish itself as the place for competitive racing.  A public favorite was the very successful demonstration event during the America's Cup World Series...such a cool opportunity to take the Ronstan boat out for a show in front of thousands of excited fans.  Full local event reports can be found  here .  In addition to a great local series, the US F18 class hosted their first World Championships.  

Team Overview

Passion. persistence. perfection. results..

Mike and Tripp have been sailing together in a variety of racing sailboats for the past eight years. Individually, they each excelled in their college sailing programs and have used that experience to pursue sailing at the next level. Settling on multihulls, they have quickly advanced to become one of the most competitive teams in the country. Countless hours of training and racing have resulted in top finishes at national and international events.

Recent political events have eliminated hopes of an 2012 Olympic campaign in the Tornado class, allowing them to give their full attention to the Formula 18 catamaran. When not on the water, both live near Boston, MA and work in design and engineering.

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Check out our latest pictures from events around the country. Click Here

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Fast, sleek, and efficient. Find out more about our ride. Click Here

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Electric boat racing team reflects on road to competition success

December 12, 2022 By Grace Dalton

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The five members of the Electric Boat Team stand behind their electric boat design and give thumbs up with Pohick Bay in the background.

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IMAGES

  1. America’s Cup 2017 @Bermuda : LV Day 3, Glorious Catamaran Racing

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  2. Teams Competing on Formula 18 National Catamaran Race Editorial Photo

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  3. SailRaceWin: Great Cup : GC32 catamaran racing in The Great Cup sets

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  4. Meet The 222 Offshore Racing Team

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  5. Formula 18 Catamaran World Championships

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  6. Catamaran Racing, News & Design

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  1. The week that was.....Catamaran's & Socialzing

  2. CATAMARAN TRIP WITH THE TEAM 😍

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  5. Going to be some FAST racing

  6. Amazing Catamaran training sesh

COMMENTS

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    Event 13 - On sale soon. San Francisco. 13 - 14 Jul 2024. Event Info. SailGP's ambition is to be the world's most sustainable and purpose-driven global sports and entertainment platform. We are racing for a better future and believe sport has the power to change the world. Race for the Future.

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  5. Spithill skippers Team USA to a SailGP win three weeks after losing a

    SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jimmy Spithill barely made it into the podium race and then brilliantly skippered Team USA to victory in the Spain Sail Grand Prix Cádiz on Sunday, three weeks after crewman Hans Henken was seriously injured.. Spithill dedicated Team USA's first victory of SailGP's fourth season to Henken, the flight controller who was knocked unconscious when the team's 50-foot ...

  6. SailGP returns to Dubai for the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix

    Fans will get to witness SailGP's revolutionary F50 foiling catamarans racing just metres away from the shoreline and in view of some of Dubai's globally recognized attractions at Mina Rashid. ... Team Base Tours Take part in an exclusive tour and go behind the scenes at SailGP. Through a Team Base Tour, enjoy an exclusive tour of the ...

  7. Four new teams join GC32 Racing Tour for Lagos

    Posted on 28 Nov 2022 Swiss team wins 3rd consecutive GC32 Racing Tour Alinghi Red Bull Racing top flying catamaran one-design circuit again Appropriately, given it is the longest-standing and most successful catamaran racing team on the planet, Alinghi Red Bull Racing has been confirmed as the 2022 winner of the GC32 Racing Tour.

  8. At just 18, this Hawaii sailor is securing her spot in catamaran racing

    Sail grand prix is the major league of hydrofoil racing. The catamarans sit high on foils and fly over the ocean, reaching speeds up to 60 mph. ... The team just competed in Spain and is ranked ...

  9. Sail GP: Team GBR F50 reaches 50knots

    COWES, England - August 6, 2019 - Dylan Fletcher's Great Britain SailGP Team today achieved what no other sail racing team in the world has done, breaking the sport's elusive 50-knot speed barrier during training ahead of Cowes SailGP. The historic moment - a first aboard the supercharged F50 catamaran - occurred during the British ...

  10. Photos: Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final practice of world's

    Team USA practices on their F50 catamaran in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Nine teams from across the globe are competing to decide the overall season champion this weekend ...

  11. Catamaran Racing In Paradise

    Catamaran Racing In Paradise. The St. Barth Cata Cup is the deluxe destination regatta for high-performance beach cat sailors. It's so good they can no longer keep it a secret. By Todd Riccardi ...

  12. F50 catamaran

    Prepare to experience the fastest on-water racing on the planet, in some of the world's most iconic major cities. The Denmark SailGP Team presented by ROCKWOOL supercharged F50 catamaran is a state-of-the-art racing machine capable of flying above the water and is built for one purpose: pure speed.

  13. GC32 Racing Tour 2023 announced

    Posted on 28 Nov 2022 Swiss team wins 3rd consecutive GC32 Racing Tour Alinghi Red Bull Racing top flying catamaran one-design circuit again Appropriately, given it is the longest-standing and most successful catamaran racing team on the planet, Alinghi Red Bull Racing has been confirmed as the 2022 winner of the GC32 Racing Tour.

  14. SUPER CAT

    SUPER CAT. The longstanding premier class of offshore racing. The Super Cat Class boasts twin hull catamarans ranging from 38′ to 44′ in length powered by twin 850 horsepower engines of various manufacturers, with speeds reaching 140 mph. M•CON | US-1.

  15. Ocean Race 2023, Leg 3: 11th Hour Racing, Team update

    What a 24-hours it has been for 11th Hour Racing Team. We've clocked a 24-hour record-breaking IMOCA run of 544.63 nautical miles at an average speed of 22.7 knots, which, subject to official ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council, would break Alex Thomson's long-standing record of 539.71nm, in 2018.

  16. The World's Fastest-sailing Multihulls

    To this end, the team invested in three separate boats: a Decision 35 one-design catamaran for inshore racing, an MOD 70 trimaran and—most spectacularly of all—the 131-foot maxi-tri Spindrift 2. ... More recently a new U.S.-flagged Orion Racing team has gotten into the mix, and class organizers have announced a second Krys Ocean Race set to ...

  17. On board SailGP's 60 mph F50 catamaran

    The F50 has an estimated top speed of 52+ knots (60 mph), and the Australia SailGP Team holds the honour of becoming the first crew to break the 50 knot barrier in sail racing, doing so at Cowes, UK in August 2019. "I was surprised actually, as I thought the 50 knot barrier would be broken in San Francisco," says SailGP CEO Sir Russell ...

  18. Broadco MTI Sold, New Owners Going Super Cat Racing

    With first- and second-place finishes at the 2019 Race World Offshore World Championships in Key West, Fla., the Broadco team proved its MTI catamaran was still a formidable competitor. But it was an outstanding performance by the entire Broadco team and a fine high-note on which to end an equally fine offshore racing career.

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  20. MWR

    MicroWind Racing is a F18 Catamaran Racing Team based out of Boston MA and is looking for sponsorship for sailing events worldwide. Media; News; Sponsorship; Results; Contacts; Latest News December 24th, 2012 - Season Wrap Up. This December marks the close of the most successful season of any US F18 team ever! No coincidence then, that it is ...

  21. GC 32 Racing Tour: 2023 Events announced

    GC32 Racing Tour 2023 announced. Competition for the one design flying catamarans of the GC32 Racing Tour will take place over three events and two venues in 2023. As it has done since 2016, the GC32 Racing Tour will start in Riva del Garda at what many consider is the ideal venue to race foiling sail boats. With its northern end nestled within ...

  22. Electric boat racing team reflects on road to competition success

    The Electric Boat Racing Team members designed a 6-foot catamaran-style hull, named "12th Volt" after the 12th Man. ... The Texas A&M Electric Boat Racing Team went on to take first place in the unmanned category and also set a course record of completing the 5-mile course in 17 minutes and 42 seconds.