00:00Hello once again, as we welcome you to the wrap-up of Event 7 of Season 5 of SailGP.
00:09It's the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix.
00:11Portsmouth, alongside Olympian Stevie Morrison and former Team GBR athlete Hannah Diamond.
00:16I am Todd Harris.
00:17Wow, what an event.
00:18Hannah, we'll start with you.
00:19Portsmouth really turned out.
00:20Not only the fans, but the conditions were ideal.
00:23Yeah, I don't think we could have asked for much better, really, could we?
00:25The racing was close all weekend.
00:27We had some kind of standout performances, but, you know, just to see the number of people who turned out to watch the racing in Portsmouth was really, really awesome.
00:34Stevie, she talks about standout performances.
00:36I know she means Emirates GBR because they did a fantastic job, but in the end, it was the Kiwis.
00:41Who impressed you the most?
00:43Oh, well, I mean, Emirates GBR did come back from a really tough middle bit of the season.
00:47Well, we're still in the middle, aren't we?
00:48But that little bit, you know, they had an amazing start to the season and they've come back really strong.
00:52So, yes, of course, to deliver like that on home turf.
00:54I think the Italians and the Swiss, if I'm honest, if we want to take it.
00:58Well, I mean, you know, we sort of had the, you know, two of the titans in the final, didn't we, with Great Britain and New Zealand.
01:03None of us are surprised to be talking about them.
01:05But I think the Swiss making a final was massive because, you know, whatever reason, be it choking because of pressure or just not quite having that experience or whatever it is,
01:14because they've always kind of had a few good results and then some catastrophic ones.
01:17So a final was awesome.
01:19And then the Italians, you know, there's signs of progress.
01:22I mean, you want a linear improvement curve, don't you?
01:24That kind of shows you've got things to back up what you're doing.
01:27So, yeah, I thought the Italians and I thought the Swiss were real standouts for me this weekend.
01:31All right.
01:31Let's break it right down because there was all kinds of, I don't want to say chaos, but it wouldn't be a normal SailGP event unless something happened and we talk about the French.
01:40Before the racing even got started, we're sitting here watching and all of a sudden you see the French and the top section is basically gone.
01:46It's that great blur.
01:47Yeah, I mean, that was just, I mean, it was gutting, wasn't it?
01:50It was gutting for all of us.
01:51Of course, you know, you're firstly petrified someone might be hurt.
01:54You know, you can't underestimate it.
01:56Hannah mentioned it.
01:56I think, you know, sometimes we miss it, but Hannah mentioned just, they're big boats, aren't they, in person.
02:01Yeah.
02:01It's big gear.
02:02Yeah.
02:03Yeah.
02:03And, you know, when something like that happens, your first thought is, you know, is everyone okay?
02:07But secondly, like, can you figure out what happened in the moment?
02:10And, you know, sometimes it's not worth digging into that too much, but so fortunate for the French that this location was Portsmouth because SailGP technology is just down the road.
02:20So they were able to get the new components, building sort of a buildup of spares so that if something breaks in the future, there are those components that you can put things back together.
02:30And I think they probably would have been a bit disappointed with how they started the day.
02:33They kind of were mid-fleet at the beginning of that first race today, then fell to the back, but then came back strong with two good race results at the end of the event.
02:42But for the overall standings, it's going to make it much harder work for them to get close to that grand final.
02:47Hannah, these are your home waters, so I'll ask you this question.
02:49And why do you think teams that we usually equate as being one of the top teams in the league, Spain, Canada, why do you think they really struggle in these waters this weekend?
02:57Yeah, I think it's a really interesting question because quite often we talk about teams underperforming, and I actually don't think it's so much to do with that.
03:04I think the margins at the top of the fleet are so tight.
03:07This weekend was so much about starting and executing around that mark one.
03:10And you had to be really hitting the line super fast, making sure that you had space to make that first manoeuvre so that you could pick your gate mark.
03:18We saw the left-hand turn was really strong all day yesterday and for the beginning of racing today as well.
03:23So it sort of really rewarded those teams that could execute rather than just make that.
03:27The plan was sort of obvious in a way.
03:29And I think for me, the biggest thing is, you know, a lot of teams can perform on any given day, but it's the ones that drop down and don't understand why.
03:37Those are the ones teams that are going to find it really hard at the back end of the season.
03:40Well, the team that really turned the nitrous on, especially on Super Sunday, Stevie, had to be the Blackfoils.
03:44But when the start of the final came around, they looked like they were out of it.
03:47Not a great start for them, but I think I said it in the broadcast, you can never count out Pistol Pete.
03:52No, no, no, you can't.
03:53I mean, that Kiwi team, they're serial winners, aren't they?
03:55And there was a few wind shifts.
03:57I do think that sort of suits them when there's opportunities to minimize that course.
04:02You know, distance they sail up the ladder, they do a good job.
04:04And, yeah, I mean, you know, we're quick to criticize.
04:08Maybe we should take a moment to actually say well done to Leo Takahashi, the flight controller.
04:13That was a tricky day out there.
04:15They have struggled on these new T-foils.
04:19They've not been as good.
04:20It's a simple thing.
04:21You know, Andy Maloney, they lost probably, if not the best, you know, competition.
04:26Is it Jason Walthouse?
04:27Is it Luke Parkinson?
04:28Is it Andy Maloney that's the best flight controller?
04:31But I'd argue it's out of them.
04:33Although Joel Rodriguez will probably, you know, hit me with a bit of tapas for saying that.
04:37I don't know.
04:37But, you know, there's some really top guys.
04:40So Leo's had to step into some seriously big boots.
04:43And, yeah, there's been a few moments where it's maybe looked like he's got a lot on.
04:46But we should actually now turn around and say, well, they looked really fast today.
04:50They made the least mistakes and they won the event.
04:53And, yes, Pete and Liv did a brilliant job tactically around the course.
04:57You've got Blair trimming the wind.
04:59You're going to be doing pretty well, you know.
05:01But Leo's got to step up and deliver at that level.
05:03And today he absolutely did.
05:05So I actually think under the pressure of that, you know, we should, yeah, congratulate Leo and say well done.
05:11So the Kiwis have now won event one, which is in Dubai.
05:13They won event seven in Portsmouth.
05:14Hannah, I want to turn my attention or your attention to Switzerland.
05:17They came on strong.
05:18They look good all weekend long.
05:20But how gutting is that for them to get into the final and then say, okay, they had a real chance of winning this thing.
05:25They put themselves, especially in the first two legs, of, oh, hey, you guys might get this win.
05:29And then for them to have the issues on board, the technical issues to shut it down, that's got to be so frustrating.
05:33Yeah, and I think, you know, they'll have plenty of things to take away from this weekend, which are really, really positive.
05:37We've seen them in the past when they get near other boats, they're put under a bit of pressure.
05:41They can tend to crumble.
05:42And we did see, you know, glimpses of that at times today, especially when they were trying to rush their manoeuvres.
05:48But for me, they sort of stood the test against some of the big teams.
05:51They had Bonds flying ruse, trying to put the pressure on to try and jump them to get that third spot in the final.
05:57And they reacted really, really well to that.
05:58So despite the, you know, the disappointment of them not being able to finish that final race for technical reasons, I think they'll be really happy.
06:05And it's all about kind of taking the learnings, the positive forwards into the next event in Sassnitz and into the back half of the season.
06:11And you bring us to the next event, which will be event number eight at Sassnitz, Germany.
06:15First time visit for sail GP.
06:16Stevie, what can we expect?
06:18Have you been there?
06:18What do you know about Sassnitz?
06:20I think sailing on the Baltic in general is normally a really nice place to sail.
06:23There's a slightly different salinity to the water.
06:25So there'll be some interesting things from a technical point of view.
06:28How do the boats foil and how do they perform there?
06:31And of course, just the logistics of these event sites getting comfy in the area.
06:35So you've got to hope that, you know, perhaps for a couple of the teams that I've just been disappointed with, I suppose.
06:41I don't know a short way of doing it.
06:42I've been disappointed with the Germans.
06:44I've been disappointed with Rockwell Denmark, to be honest.
06:46You know, Rockwell Denmark I see as one of the top teams.
06:48And, you know, I spent a bit of time looking at the data between events.
06:51And they sail the boat so well, but the results aren't showing it.
06:53And ultimately, all that matters is results.
06:56So for Germany and for Denmark, you know, it's the kind of patch of the water you'd hope they were good on.
07:01So I hope it's a chance for them to really kickstart their season, second half.
07:05A, to give the German home fans something to really cheer about with the German team.
07:09But, you know, that Danish team is a strong, strong team.
07:11And I want to see them back on the front foot.
07:13But right now they're not.
07:14They're on the back foot.
07:15And I've got to start thinking, Hannah, final question to you is a lot of these teams are going to start saying,
07:19OK, let's do the math because we're coming down to the sharp end of the season
07:22where points are not available.
07:24I mean, if you're down outside of the top six your season, you might be looking to season six.
07:29Yeah, that's right.
07:30And I think we'll start to see a real split in kind of ambition and goals for the back half of the season.
07:34You know, you've got the teams who are definitely in contention to make the grand final.
07:39You've got those who are, you know, if everything goes well,
07:42then we can still put ourselves in with a shout.
07:44But actually, you know, this league is only going to get busier.
07:47It's only going to get more hotly contested as the top teams get better and better.
07:51Those teams who are in sort of the bottom third of the fleet are going to have to be asking some serious questions.
07:56There's not a lot of training time available.
07:58The event schedule is so tight to get to each of those venues and get everything set up on time.
08:03They really need to start investing some time in developing those sailors.
08:07So if there's a question mark on any of the positions on board or even just building up the resilience within your team
08:12to account for injury, illness, whatever it might be going forwards,
08:16the schedule is not going to have a break in it going forward.
08:19So, you know, we might see some of the teams who will make up that bottom third of the fleet start to try some new things,
08:25which might not pay dividends right now, but they're investing in season six, perhaps.
08:29So as we look to the next three events, all in European waters, next up, it'll be Sassanus, Germany.
08:33Then after that, it's on to Saint-Tropez, France, which the fleet should know very well.
08:37And then another first time visit as we make our way to Geneva, Switzerland.
08:40So the point of the matter is, August 16th and 17th, next up for SailGP, it will be the Germany Sail Grand Prix in Sassanus.
08:48We hope to see you there.
08:49It'll be very exciting, and we'll see who emerges as the champion.
08:52So on behalf of Stevie Morrison and Hannah Diamond, I'm Todd Harris.
