The Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team has unveiled its new signings and new T-Foils ahead of the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix in Auckland this weekend. It is the first time SailGP has held an event in New Zealand’s largest city, with 25,000 fans expected across the two race days on 18 and 19 January.
As well as a new race location, there’s also a new signing for Emirates GBR, with America’s Cup athlete Ben Cornish joining the crew as Reserve Sailor, while also supporting Coach Rob Wilson with tactics and analysis in the coaching booth during racing. Analysis is hugely important in SailGP, as the data from each F50 is made available to every team. It allows crews to deep dive into other teams’ performance in order to improve their own, and with more than 800 sensors and 240,000 data points on each F50, there’s a lot to analyse. Cornish, 33, from Budleigh Salterton in Devon, is no stranger to SailGP, having previously worked with Emirates GBR when Grinder Matt Gotrel was injured in an overboard incident at the Sydney event in Season 3. He also joined Season 4 Champions Spain as a Grinder for the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix last November.
In addition to Cornish, Emirates GBR has welcomed Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallist Ellie Aldridge to the team. Fresh from victory at the first ever Olympic kite foiling competition, the 28-year-old joined Hannah Mills’ Athena Pathway squad in Barcelona for the Women’s and Youth America’s Cups. As part of her development programme with Athena Pathway, Aldridge will be training with Emirates GBR in the Strategist role on-board the F50 at a number of events this season.
Sir Ben Ainslie, CEO of Emirates GBR, said: “It’s great to have Ben and Ellie join the team, they are both extremely talented athletes and I know they will be excellent additions both on and off the water. We’ve had four additional training days in Auckland, which is rare in SailGP, so it’s given us valuable time to get to grips with the new T-foils and also allow training time for our team members in different positions. We’ve had Hannah Mills training in the Driver position and Ellie Aldridge trying out the Strategist role for her first time on-board the F50. As a team we are committed to upskilling our crew and look forward to expanding this at other events this season.”
Aldridge said: “It was epic to have my first experience on-board the F50 with Emirates GBR. These boats are super fast and the feeling of adrenaline was like nothing else I’ve experienced. Hannah is a legend in the game so it’s been amazing to learn from her about the Strategist role and also see her take to the wheel of the F50. It’s a new challenge for me after the Olympics but I can’t wait to get back out there and have more time on-board.”
The Auckland event will be the debut of the new high-speed T-Foils on all of the F50 foiling catamarans. The foils on an F50 enable the boat to fly above the water, reducing drag and increasing speed. The previous L-shaped foils have been replaced by T-Foils, which have been specifically designed to improve performance, control and safety of the F50s at high speeds.
It’s been an exciting week for Emirates GBR in the build up to the race weekend, with the team releasing its Environmental and Social Impact Report on Tuesday, becoming the first SailGP Team to do so. On Thursday, it was announced the global insurance intermediary group Howden was on-board as an official partner of the team, with Emirates GBR joining Howden’s other sports partners including The British & Irish Lions and Ascot Racecourse.
Emirates GBR’s race crew for the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix will be Dylan Fletcher as Driver, Hannah Mills as Strategist, Iain Jensen as Wing Trimmer, Luke Parkinson as Flight Controller and Nick Hutton and Neil Hunter as Grinders. The squad is hoping to continue its strong start to the season, after securing a second-place finish at the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix in November, which was the first event for new Driver Fletcher.
Racing at the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland takes place on 18-19 January with UK viewers able to watch the action live on TNT Sports 3 at 03:00 GMT both days.
