EMIRATES DUBAI SAIL GRAND PRIX | STARTING TO CONNECT THE DOTS

Switzerland SailGP Team was finally back on the racecourse this weekend at the opening event of the Rolex SailGP 2025 Season Championship in Dubai. It was the team’s first-time racing with a refreshed crew onboard, and first time sailing with the F50’s largest 29m wing. Five fleet races were sailed across the two days, and the team picked up 4-4-8-9-8 across the scoreboard.

It wasn’t an easy one for the fleet, with light ‘snakes and ladders’ patchy conditions making the racing even more tactical. A reduced crew onboard over the weekend, racing with five - then four - athletes over the usual six, challenged further. But for the new Swiss team it was a first taste of how extreme the SailGP racing can be, and a chance to start to connect the dots. New Zealand’s Black Foils took the event win, followed by Emirates GBR in second and United States SailGP Team in third. Despite heading into race day two sixth overall, the team finish ninth in Dubai.

Reflecting on the weekend, driver Sebastien Schneiter, “Yesterday was super light but it was great for us to get the conditions we had today, to get up on the foils and experience what it’s like to race in these conditions, on this type of racecourse. It’s fair to say we were struggling a bit at times today, we missed some opportunities, we had some good come backs but then made our lives a bit harder in some of the manoeuvres. The points were really tight, the fleet is super tight, but it’s a long season and we are already fighting the pack. We’ve had some good learnings and it’s a good starting point. It’s not about where we are now but where we finish this Season.”

CEO Tanguy Cariou continues, “Our first event of the new Rolex SailGP 2025 Championship is done. We’ve got mixed feelings for the final result as the crew sailed well and showed promising moments. Unfortunately, today it was a bit more complicated out there and not such good starts compared to yesterday, a bit too much in the pack. As Seba said, it’s just the start of the journey, for some it was the first time racing on the F50, but I know they will learn and be keen to move forward and be aggressive for the next event early next year.”

The 2025 Season is the Championship’s most expansive yet and next up the fleet heads down under to New Zealand, for the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix Auckland, 18-19 January. Full calendar HERE.

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