Congrats to Canada’s Sail GP Team

 

Mar 23, 2023

No matter what boat you enjoy, sail or power, yours likely would be no match in speed or sophistication for the F50 that Sail GP racing teams ride in their high-thrills events.  The boats are insanely fast thanks to their foils and breathtakingly high-tech thanks to instruments, servo controls and state of sailing design. They capture the feeling of the newest America’s Cup boast but they race year round in big fleets and it’s all available to watch on TV or online.

In our publications, CY OnBoard and Sailing in Canada, we have been colossal fans of Canada’s Sail GP Team from its inception. But never more so than after this weekend’s impressive regatta win in New Zealand .

Almost every crew member on the Canadian entry is from right here in your city, with the exception of Phil Robertson who is a Kiwi and was invited aboard with two prior seasons of skippering Sail GP under his belt. The Canadian newbies, many of whom are National Team sailors but none of whom had been on an F50 previously, showed their stuff in a huge way beating the world’s best.

Make no mistake, this is big league stuff. The cost of participation is large, the incentive to win both for the syndicates and the sailors aboard is significant with a lot of cash in the prize envelopes.  This is not yet NHL hockey but it is a very meaningful step toward finally putting boats, boating on the map. As we all know, boating is virtually never covered in the mass press unless there’s a disaster, but this weekend Canada’s Sail GP Team was reported and honoured in dailies and on TV. That bodes well, Canadian competitive sailing in particular and to boating in general. Bravo Zulu!

John Morris, Online Editor

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