Team USA Takes SailGP Win in Cadiz, Spain

It was sailing with a bigger purpose in mind this past weekend in Cádiz, Andalusia, at the Spain Sail Grand Prix. Jimmy Spithill led the USA SailGP Team to an unlikely win, with high fives all around for the whole team as they dedicated the win to injured teammate Hans Henken. After finishing a disappointing 10th and a last place for Race 3, and with little hope of making the podium final, Team USA capitalized on a critical error by Team New Zealand to reach the championship race.

Once in the final, Spithill took advantage of his own mistake and a late start for Australia and Denmark to capture the weekend and move into a third-place tie in Season 4’s overall points tally toward the final race next year in San Francisco.

In the final podium race, the Americans started on the back foot thanks to a boundary penalty during the pre-start, which meant they needed to start behind Australia and Rockwool Denmark, who for the most part had a flawless weekend.

“Nothing pretty about that start; it was 100 percent my fault,” said Spithill. “I didn’t see the boundary, but as it turns out, that worked in our favor. For the teams (the Aussies and Danes) in front at the first mark 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.” USA finished a full two and a half minutes ahead of second-place Rockwool Denmark.

“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. It was such a massive blow for the team in Italy when Henken sustained injuries during the Italy Sail Grand Prix, and a tough moment for us all to go through,” Spithill said. “But it also inspired us and gave us a real amount of purpose for this event. We dedicate this win to Hans.”

Henken, who is now back in the United States and recovering well, 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. “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.”

Team USA has had a veritable rotating lineup that Spithill has had to juggle for more than a year, with various crew injuries.

“I’m recovering and I feel like I have been steadily improving every day. My focus right now is on following concussion protocol and soon will be starting physical therapy for the few upper-body injuries that I sustained,” Henken said in an update on his road to recovery. “I’d like to thank my USA SailGP team for the quick response at a critical time, and their ongoing support. They’re all awesome people and I’m grateful to be a part of the team. I’d also like to thank the amazing SailGP medical team for going above and beyond their duty in making sure I had everything I needed, and made me feel as safe and comfortable as possible, given the circumstances that I was in.”

The Kiwis needed to get past the Americans and Spanish to secure a spot in the final, and as they were overtaking Spithill on the final mark, they copped a penalty for not keeping clear of Emirates Team GBR — a move skipper Peter Burling said was “unnecessary.”

“We did a really good job to get back to the Americans. then setting up for a jibe to the last mark, and Ben (Ainslie) obviously took the opportunity we gave him,” said Burling. “Obviously he wanted to block us out of the final and he did a nice job of that.”

“You see how little battles in the fleet unfold — like what you have with Canada and Spain at the moment. We thought it was a bit unnecessary, but we were in the wrong and not much you can do,” Burling said. “A fourth for us this weekend is a good result, and a good way for us to bounce back after some time not racing.”

With lighter winds for most of the weekend, the teams sailed with just four crew onboard for Sunday’s final day of racing. For the Americans, it meant that Spithill did double duty, being the flight controller in addition to driving the boat, as strategist Erika Reineke moved into the physical G1 (Grinder 1) position, working the handles to produce power for the wing sail and foils.

She joked that the pre-race Red Bulls had her really charged up, echoing the “never give up” mentality.

“There was no doubt in my mind we had a chance; our team never stops fighting until after the finish line,” said Reineke, who returned earlier this summer from a broken ankle she sustained in the SailGP race in Australia. “This weekend means a lot. 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.”

During the on-water celebrations, Spithill handed Reineke the victory wheel for the team photo, a nod to her performance and to the second anniversary of the Women’s Pathway Program — SailGP’s mission to increase women’s participation at the highest level in the sport.

SailGP heads to Dubai, UAE, on December 9/10 (hopefully, world permitting), and even with a dominating Season 4 lead, a dejected Tom Slingsby admitted he was “frustrated” by the result, adding that Australia was “almost lapped” by the United States. “It’s just one mistake and the race is over.”

It must be horrible to have won three championships in a row and not win every race! But that is the intensity that Slingsby brings to everything he does.