The British team are aiming to secure a place in the SailGP Season 3 Grand Final podium race on San Francisco Bay
Emirates GBR finish third in SailGP Impact League behind Denmark and New Zealand
SailGP teams reaffirm UN Sustainable Development Goal pledges during ‘Protect Our Future’ classroom activity

As the last event of Season 3 approaches in San Francisco, Sir Ben Ainslie’s Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team is preparing for a battle to reach the Grand Final. The British team are currently in fourth place, sitting just one point behind the French and five points behind New Zealand. With only Australia securing its place in Sunday’s Podium Grand Final, it’s all to play for as racing kicks off on Saturday in front of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

America’s Cup athlete Ben Cornish (GBR) joins the British team for a second outing filling in for grinder Matt Gotrel (GBR) who is close to returning to full fitness following his injury from the overboard incident in Sydney. Neil Hunter retains his place in San Francisco alongside trimmer grinder Nick Hutton. The driver, strategist, wing trimmer, and flight controller roles are again filled by Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR), Hannah Mills (GBR), Iain Jensen (AUS) and Luke Parkinson (GBR / AUS) with Hannah Diamond (GBR) completing the line-up as the reserve sailor.

Emirates GBR CEO and Driver, Ben Ainslie, said: “From a racing point of view, we always look forward to San Francisco it delivers strong consistent winds and flat water just the perfect SailGP venue.

“It has been a full-on season so to be heading into the final with a real opportunity to make the podium race is really positive, especially after missing the entire event in Denmark.

“We have zero to lose and everything to gain, now it’s about going for the win!”

As always in SailGP, it’s not just racing that the teams are focused on, they are also competing in the Impact League which tracks the positive actions our teams make to reduce their overall carbon footprint and help accelerate inclusivity in sailing. A second leaderboard, which runs alongside the Season Championship, monitors the performance of the teams with scores at each SailGP event being added to the overall Impact League leaderboard. Emirates GBR Team celebrated climbing one place to finish third overall as Denmark were announced as the Season 3 Impact League champions ahead of New Zealand.

Before the result was announced all the SailGP Teams collaborated to reaffirm their UN Sustainable Development Goal pledges. With each team’s driver and female athlete taking part in a ‘Protect Our Future’ classroom activity which involved making pledges to use their sporting platforms for good and inspire the next generation to take positive actions.

This was part of a larger activation by Emirates GBR in San Francisco, with local school children welcomed into GBR’s base to deliver climate education workshops and inspire them to make positive changes. The team’s Purpose Partner, Protect our Future, is working with Low Carbon, the leading global renewable energy company, to launch the new climate education platform. The workshops are part of the team’s mission to support more than three million young people to take action to protect nature, people and the planet.

Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team Strategist, Hannah Mills OBE, said: “Our whole team is as passionate about making the biggest impact we can for the planet as we are about winning the SailGP Championship and Impact League. We are committed to inspiring the next generation to take action and the Protect Our Future platform with Low Carbon will enable us to connect with more young people and encourage them to make a difference. The team is excited to be working with Low Carbon and delivering the educational sessions to people across San Francisco.”

Speaking from San Francisco ahead of the season final, Roy Bedlow, Founder and Chief Executive of Low Carbon and a Trustee of the 1851 Trust, said: “Low Carbon is delighted to support the launch of the Protect Our Future platform with the 1851 Trust. Sir Ben, Hannah and the team have repeatedly shown leadership as passionate climate champions, and we are excited to be strengthening our partnership with them.”