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2024 Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix | Day 1

2024 apex group bermuda sail grand prix | day 2.

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8 Teams. 8 Locations. $1 Million Prize.

SailGP is an international sailing competition that features high-performance F50 foiling catamarans, where teams compete across a season of multiple grands prix around the world.

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Spain’s Botin takes lead over Kiwis in Abu Dhabi SailGP regatta while Team USA is 3rd

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — Spain’s Diego Botin finished last in the first fleet race before winning the next two races to take the lead in the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix on Saturday.

Botin’s strong performance aboard his red foiling catamaran “Los Gallos” in light wind on the Persian Gulf came a day after three-time defending SailGP champion Tom Slingsby challenged younger skippers to step up after veterans Jimmy Spithill and Sir Ben Ainslie retired from racing in tech billionaire Larry Ellison’s global league.

Botin, who turned 30 on Christmas, won the Los Angeles regatta in mid-July for Spain’s first-ever SailGP win but has made the podium race only once in the four regattas since then.

Botin has 21 points going into Sunday’s two fleet races, after which the top three teams from the 10-boat fleet advance to the podium race. New Zealand’s Peter Burling, a two-time winner this season, is second with 20 points after going 1-10-2 while Taylor Canfield has the new-look Team USA in third place with 19 points after finishes of 9-2-3.

“We started the day in a poor position with a last place in the first race but it was amazing to come back with two wins and be on top of the leaderboard,” Botin said. “It was super close so everything will be decided tomorrow.”

Botin had strong starts in the second and third races, and then outmaneuvered Burling to win the final race.

“It’s a sign that we have been working a lot in these light wind conditions,” Botin said. “We know it’s all about getting a good trigger pull at the start, which we managed to do.”

Burling, the two-time reigning America’s Cup champion helmsman and a three-time Olympic medalist, said the light wind and a new double reach configuration after the start made for a tough day.

“It was really a day where if you’re not first, you’re last,” Burling said. “Looking at the leaderboard, the first two boats overall each had a first and a 10th. It shows just how tricky it is out here.”

Canfield is in his second regatta as U.S. skipper. He finished eighth in Dubai last month, a few weeks after the team was purchased by a group of investors that includes former Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner and actress Issa Rae.

“We pushed hard today,” Canfield said. “I think people have been underestimating us. Granted we are sailing in light air and that helps, but we are progressing every day. Our foot is on the throttle and we’re not going to back down.”

Slingsby, who leads the season standings by 11 points despite not winning a regatta, was sixth overall and five points off the lead after going 2-9-6. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Giles Scott was seventh in all three races in his debut as Ainslie’s replacement aboard Emirates GBR and is in eighth place.

Follow Bernie Wilson on X at http://x.com/berniewilson

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SailGP Teams, Back at Full Strength, Power to the $1 Million Prize

Japan is the leader as racing begins in Cádiz, and with crews back from the Olympics, boats now have their A-teams.

By David Schmidt

With $1 million and a season’s title up for grabs, attracting some of the world’s best sailors to SailGP was easy. But, with the allure of the Olympics and one star sailor’s paternity leave, keeping them on the boats for every race has been harder.

SailGP’s second season began in April in Bermuda, where eight teams from as many countries competed aboard identical F50 catamarans. The 36th America’s Cup had just concluded, so crew members who had competed in that regatta had time to return to their SailGP teams for the start of the season.

But then came the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and some SailGP teams were stripped of their best sailors as they headed for Japan. The Great Britain SailGP Team also lost Ben Ainslie , its driver, who had won an America’s Cup and five Olympic medals, for two events when he took leave around the birth of his son.

The absences caused the racing in Italy in June and Britain in July to be less competitive.

“The fact of the matter is, in any sport, if you don’t have your best athletes who you can field on the field, you’re more than likely not going to get as strong a result,” said Russell Coutts, SailGP’s chief executive and a five-time America’s Cup winner. “You can’t just sub a good sailor in that hasn’t had the training on a F50. The teams that have tried that this year, it hasn’t worked, it’s failed.”

But the top talent, including Ainslie , returned before the regattas in Denmark in August and France in September, and now — with just three left in Season 2 — competition is stiffening ahead of the regatta in Spain, which will take place at Cádiz on Saturday and Sunday.

The teams will be seeking to increase their chances of qualifying for the season finale in San Francisco next March. Only the three highest-ranked teams will advance to the Grand Final, which comes with the championship title and that $1 million.

Ainslie’s team is in fourth place. Asked if the absence of top sailors had made a difference in the level of competition, he said, “How much of a difference, that’s arguable, but definitely [it] would have made a difference.”

Instead, Ainslie points to the teamwork needed to sail these boats at top form as more critical. “That’s just as important, if not more important, than who’s steering the thing,” he said.

Teamwork may be crucial aboard boats that race on hydrofoils at highway speeds, but losing a significant percentage of A-listers early in the season was still challenging.

“The positive parts of having so many Olympians on your team is that you have an incredibly high level of sailing talent in the group,” said Peter Burling , driver of the New Zealand SailGP Team , which is in sixth place. “We had five out of our team competing at the Olympics.”

This group included Burling and Blair Tuke , the team’s wing trimmer. They arrived in SailGP after helping Emirates Team New Zealand win the America’s Cup, but left after Bermuda for the Olympics, where they won silver .

“The Olympics ended up right in the middle of SailGP season, and there’s a lot of us on the team [for whom] the Olympics and Tokyo had been a goal for a long time,” Tuke said. “So that was where the priority lay, but now that’s fully shifted and everyone is focused.”

Focus matters, but so do results.

“You could say it was definitely difficult,” Burling said about maintaining leadership continuity throughout the season. Despite the team’s standing, he sees its Olympic involvement as a positive. “It really does help sharpen your skills.”

Coutts did not agree and said the Olympic timeout had “been a disadvantage.”

“You’re racing against the best guys in the world,” he said “If you give them more time against you, you’re going to get hurt, aren’t you?”

Time matters greatly. SailGP’s rules restrict each team’s on-the-water practices. Unlike Olympic-class boats, F50s regularly see 90-knot closing speeds, so learning curves are steep, and experience brings results.

“The biggest thing is really, how consistent can you keep your roster?” said Jimmy Spithill, a two-time America’s Cup winner and the driver of the United States SailGP Team. “This fleet is very short time as it is — there’s not very much practice, you can’t really train between the events — so the time you spend together is very important.”

The boats, which cost about $4 million each, are identical. Larry Ellison, a two-time America’s Cup winner and the founder of Oracle, is the majority owner of SailGP. Ellison also owns seven of the teams, Coutts said. The boats may be the same, but how each team sails them is not. So much of practice is spent developing a playbook of choreographed maneuvers.

“We feel a lot more competitive now than we were in Bermuda,” said Rome Kirby , an America’s Cup winner and the United States SailGP Team’s flight controller. It is “time in the boat, time together as a team.” And time spent polishing the playbook. “You need to do it together. There’s no cheat code.”

Each boat is equipped with electronic sensors that constantly gather data and send it to an Oracle-run cloud where it is available — along with onboard video footage and audio from microphones worn by the crew — to all the teams.

“It speeds up the learning and therefore the competitiveness,” Coutts said about the shared data.

Teams also receive the same hardware and software upgrades. “No one can completely dominate, because you can’t get every decision right,” he said. “The fact that the boats are so close in performance, even with the technique differences, means that we see different winners at events regularly.

“The design teams are just continuously working on improving the performance of the boats, and also we’re looking at the racing and seeing how” it can be enhanced it, Coutts said.

So the boats constantly evolve, but if sailors miss events, they can find themselves and their team less competitive. Spithill said the entire fleet was more competitive now because crews “have more races and more time on the boats.”

Japan is currently on top of the standings, followed by the United States and Australia, which are tied. Those three teams are separated by just two points.

“All of the teams are acutely aware that we’re halfway through the season and every race is critical,” Coutts said. “There’s definitely an added dimension to that.”

This awareness and the bolstered rosters mean that racing in Spain, and beyond, should intensify.

“We’re at a point now where we’re very similar to the crews that people sailed with in Bermuda,” Burling said. “And I think each team had their best foot forward in Bermuda.”

While having stronger teams is great for fans, it is telling that even some teams that are led by America’s Cup- and Olympic-winning sailors have not even managed to finish in third place this season.

“SailGP is probably one of the most competitive classes or circuits” in the world right now, Kirby said. “I would say that it’s probably more competitive than the America’s Cup.”

SailGP also puts something else in play: serious money.

When asked what was the bigger motivator — the title or the cash — teams had different answers.

“The prize purse is something that would be very nice to split around the team, but for us, the focus is definitely on trying to win the competition,” Burling said.

Others are more pragmatic.

“I mean, how could you not be motivated for a million dollars?” said Spithill, whose team has battled adversity this season, including collisions, a capsize and a serious injury, yet is still in second place. And if other teams do not care about the money, “then no worries, we won’t give them the million dollars.”

SailGP Grand Final: All you need to know - start times, odds, how to watch, live streaming

Christopher Reive

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The New Zealand SailGP team will look to claim the season title in San Francisco this weekend. Photo / Ricardo Pinto / SailGP

Season three of SailGP reaches its climax on the waters of San Francisco this weekend, with one team set to claim the US$1 million prize.

While each stop on the circuit usually consists of five fleet races and a podium race – in which the top three teams on the event leaderboard after the five races contest for the top spot – there is no podium race for the San Francisco event.

The event is decided by the fleet races. The standings at the end of the fifth race dictate where each team places for the event, and their points are added to the overall standings. Once those points are added, the top three teams on the overall ladder will return to the water to compete in a standalone shootout for the season title.

So, it is the same format as every other event, but rather than the top three teams for the event going in to contest an event title in the last race of the weekend, the top three teams overall will contest the season title instead.

Heading into the final event of the season, Australia – the two-time defending SailGP champions – holds a big lead at the top of the table, and only an unsailable vessel can prevent them from contesting the three-way shootout.

The Kiwis sit second, 11 points behind Australia. On 73 points, they sit four above France and five above Great Britain. With 10 points being awarded to the event winner (the team at the top of the leaderboard after five fleet races) and descending in value, with the ninth-placed team getting two, the Kiwis do have some work to do to ensure they are in the final race, but should feel confident about their position.

It likely shapes up as a five-race series between France and Great Britain to decide who the final team in the US$1m race will be. A tiebreaker for SailGP’s season leaderboard will mean the team who performed best in the most recent event goes ahead, which could be a factor in San Francisco.

How have the Kiwi crew sailed this season?

After a heavily disrupted debut in season two, the Kiwis’ sophomore outing has seen drastic improvements in their performance. Not only have they shown pace on the one-design F50 foiling catamaran, but they have also been consistent onboard.

Likely aided by the fact that almost everyone in the team is also involved with Team New Zealand’s America’s Cup campaign, the group has made the most of their time together and become one of the fleet’s best units.

The Kiwis have won more races than any other team this season with 16; Australia are the closest team with 11. Both teams have won three events each. However, Australia hold a commanding lead in the standings as New Zealand were twice docked points for on-water incidents – losing two season points at each of the Dubai and Singapore stops.

The New Zealanders bring a settled group into San Francisco, with Peter Burling at the helm, Blair Tuke on wing trimming duties, Liv Mackay in the strategist role, Andy Maloney as the flight controller, and Josh Junior, Marcus Hansen and Louis Sinclair providing the power on the grinding pedestals.

Heading into this weekend’s season finale, Burling said a lot had changed for the team since last season’s event in San Francisco.

“Last year in San Fran, we had effectively decided we’d be better off putting our efforts into trying to improve the team rather than trying to win a particular event.

“It’s a pretty unique race format where you get such a limited training time that essentially every time you change something significant with how you’re operating the boat, it takes a lot of time to get back to where you were. A lot of the time, you’re going backwards to hopefully go further forwards in the long term.

“This time around, we’ve got a steady line-up, we’re really happy with how we’ve been sailing the boat; just making some minor tweaks and just looking forward to trying to put together the best performance we can.”

Equation for the Kiwis to confirm their place in the Grand Final race

If New Zealand finish ninth (75 total season points): France would overtake them by finishing fifth or higher; Great Britain would do so finishing fourth or higher.

Eighth: France would overtake them by finishing fourth or higher; Great Britain third.

Seventh: France would overtake them by finishing third or higher; Great Britain would do so with a top-two finish.

Sixth: France would overtake them by finishing in the top two; Great Britain would need to be the top team after the five fleet races to surpass the Kiwis.

Fifth: France would overtake them with an event win; Great Britain would be unable to do so.

Fourth: The Kiwis would finish the season in second place regardless of where any other team finished the San Francisco event and would go on to the final race.

How to watch

SailGP’s final event of the season will be broadcast live on Sky Sport 2 and on the Sky Sport Now app from 9.30am on Sunday (the first three fleet races) and Monday (two fleet races and the stand-alone Grand Final race). The racing will also be streaming live on the SailGP YouTube channel.

TAB odds to win the Grand Final

Australia $2.30

New Zealand $2.60

France $5.50

Great Britain $8.00

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Sail GP back in Chicago this weekend

The event takes place Friday and Saturday, and spectators can watch from Navy Pier

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Slick sailboats are back in Lake Michigan as some of the world's most talented sailors arrive in Chicago,

The Sail GP competition happens this Friday and Saturday and the adrenaline-fueled races will bring crowds to the lakefront.

Chicago is transforming into a racing town this summer.

Sail GP has returned and is gearing up for two days of spectator-focused racing that will take place on Lake Michigan right in front of the city's skyline this weekend.

"Chicago is a sports town and we are seeing racing starting take off around the country and they are realizing we want to be in Chicago," Tod Reynolds, Sail GP race director, said. "Sail GP learned that first event was here last year, NASCAR is learning that again this year. That skyline, it's all the same reasons, the people of the city, the skyline. Why would you not want to be in Chicago?"

Wednesday morning, three gigantic F-50 catamarans were launched at Burnham Harbor by a crane. The cutting-edge boats boast highway speeds.

Athlete Paul Campbell-James is a UK-born wing trimmer for Team USA, driven by the adrenaline.

"It's really hard to describe and you describe it to sailors and sailors mostly think of the boats going 10 miles an hour like would be a fast boat," Campbell-James said. "We're doing 60 miles an hour and we're doing that meters away from nine other boats."

Chicago is the first stop of the fourth season of Sail GP, with 10 teams here from all over the world. This is the only freshwater stop.

"The boat, it flies out of the water and when you have freshwater compared to saltwater, the boat will fly out of the water at a higher speed then with the saltwater so it changes a lot of our numbers, a lot of our takeoff speeds and changes the way we sail," Campbell-James said.

Wednesday, teams are getting into the water and training.

"I've always been an adrenaline junkie. I love going fast on the water. There is nothing like it," said Team USA's Mac Agnese.

Launched in 2019, Sail GP is all about short track racing close to shore, creating a completely different experience for spectators.

"The beauty of these harbors and venues around the world are natural stadiums, and when we ride, literally this close to the boardwalk, what that means is you have these huge crowds," said Team USA's Jimmy Spithill. "It's a tight little track, and Chicago really sets up beautifully. Right off Navy Pier. We're on the inside of the break wall. Yeah, people. It will be impossible to miss."

Three 12 to 15-minute races will take place on each of the two days they are in Chicago.

"It happens very quickly. A small mistake can make a big difference. The boats are super quick. Things are happening very fast, makes it very exciting," Agnese said.

The event takes place Friday and Saturday and spectators can watch from Navy Pier.

It comes as the city also revs up for the NASCAR Street Race at the beginning of July.

Sail GP said all speed-seekers are welcome.

"So this is unlike any sailboat race that happens in Chicago," Reynolds said. "It's more like Formula One or NASCAR on the water."

The races on Friday and Saturday will start at 4 p.m. and there will be 90 minutes of races with three races each day. Gates will open at Navy Pier at 3 p.m.

While the best views for spectators will be from Navy Pier, where you will need a ticket, anyone along the lakefront between Museum Campus and Navy Pier should be able to catch a glimpse of the action.

For more information on tickets, click here.

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SailGP San Francisco 2022: Free live stream, TV schedule, how to watch U.S. Grand Prix sailing

• Published: Mar. 26, 2022, 12:16 p.m.

How to watch this weekend's coverage. (Ricardo Pinto/SailGP via AP) AP

• Nick O'Malley | [email protected]

SailGP hits San Francisco as the world’s best hit the water with Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background at the 2022 Mubadala United States Sail Grand Prix. Helmsman Jimmy Spithill leads the United States team in the second season of SailGP. The U.S. Grand Prix marks the final events of the SailGP season and is set to be a championship-deciding Grand Final. Fans can watch coverage for free online on SailGP’s Facebook page and YouTube page . Fans can also watch TV coverage via CBS Sports Network and stream via Paramont+ and fuboTV , which has a free trial.

How to watch the 2022 Mubadala United States Sail Grand Prix

What time does each event start? Where can I watch it on TV? - Race Day 1 will air as a delayed broadcast at 6:30 p.m. EST on CBS Sports Network. Race Day 2 will air live on CBS Sports Network as a live broadcast at 5 p.m. EST.

Live stream : CBS | Sling | fuboTV | Paramont+ - Both race days will be available to stream on live for free via SailGP’s Facebook page and YouTube page . If you have a cable subscription, you may be able to stream online via CBS using the login credentials from your TV provider. If you don’t have cable, you can sign up for fuboTV (free trial), Sling or Paramount+ (free trial) to watch online.

More coverage via the Associated Press

The U.S. SailGP team capsized its foiling 50-foot catamaran just off Alcatraz Island on San Francisco Bay on Monday, six days before it will race for the global league’s $1 million, winner-take-all season championship.

Helmsman Jimmy Spithill said there were no injuries and the boat was quickly righted and the crew sailed back to base. There was minimal damage and the team should be back on the water Tuesday, said Spithill, a two-time America’s Cup winner who is in his first season in SailGP.

Spithill said the team was attempting a foiling tack at more than 40 mph when a button stuck and the wingsail didn’t pop over. The boat rolled over, with the starboard hull and the tip of the wingsail in the water and the port hull suspended in the air. The crew was in the starboard hull, along with guest racer Kai Lenny, a big wave surfer who like Spithill is sponsored by Red Bull.

“In a lot of ways we were actually really, really lucky this happened in training, this malfunction,” Spithill said by phone. “Clearly if it had been a race day, that would been the race.”

The American team has been involved in a number of mishaps during races this season but has still sailed well enough to qualify for the podium race, along with defending champion Team Australia, skippered by Tom Slingsby. Team Japan, skippered by Australian Nathan Outteridge, has the best chance of clinching the third spot. Slingsby beat Outerridge for the inaugural season championship in 2019 and the $1 million prize.

There will be three fleet races Saturday in the Mubadala United States Grand Prix and two more Sunday before the $1 million race. Spithill said the American and Aussie crews have to sail carefully in the fleet races to keep their catamarans in one piece for the podium race. With the boats capable of going 60 mph, danger is always lurking. Team Japan slammed into Team USA in the season’s opening regatta in Bermuda, knocking the American boat out of the competition. Spithill was leading the podium race in Italy when the boat hit a submerged object and had to retire.

Racing for $1 million is “an awesome opportunity,” Spithill said. “I’ve never had it in my career, to have a three-boat final race, 12-14-minute race, winner takes all, a million bucks. It’s just unreal. No doubt clearly the Aussies are the favorite and we’re the underdogs. The Aussies have been sailing well but as we’ve seen, sometimes it’s good to be the underdog in San Francisco.”

Spithill was referring to the 2013 America’s Cup on San Francisco Bay, when he steered Oracle Team USA out of an 8-1 hole against Emirates Team New Zealand by winning the final eight races for one of the biggest comebacks in sports. Slingsby was one of Spithill’s crewmates in that regatta.

Lenny said he was standing behind Spithill when the boat rolled over. The big wave surfer and kite surfer said he was impressed with how calm Spithill and his crew were.

“These things are just rockets,” Lenny said. “It definitely felt really alive. I felt like I was on my toes the whole time. It felt very physical. I wasn’t actually doing anything to make the boat work, but I was like basically having to hang on.”

Before the 2013 America’s Cup, Lenny raced his kite board against Spithill’s 72-foot catamaran. Lenny got off to a great start before Spithill put down the hammer to pull ahead of his friend.

SailGP was founded by tech tycoon Larry Ellison and five-time America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts of New Zealand.

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Great Britain Sail Grand Prix at Plymouth – Live

The Great Britain Sail Grand Prix at Plymouth is this weekend 30 and 31 July.

Five fleet races will be contested across Saturday and Sunday before the three boat match race final on Sunday to decide the overall winner.

Ben Ainslie is racing on home waters for the first time with his Great Britain SailGP team. And will be looking for his first event win since over a year ago in Bermuda.

With more boats and more events for Season 3, SailGP has brought in tougher penalties to encourage teams to avoid contact during racing, with the safety of athletes on board and limiting damage to the F50s a top priority.

Based on the nature of the contact and the severity of damage caused, teams can lose both race points and overall season points.

To watch here in the UK it will be a choice of Sky if you have their Sports channel or YouTube which will be available live here at 13:30 hrs Sunday.

Day 2 Racing starts from 14:00 hrs local time . . .

  And this is the day 1 Saturday video rerun . . . Read the report here . . .

  How the Event Works:

Events take place across two days, with six races scheduled for each Sail Grand Prix; five Fleet races and The Final.

The first day includes three fleet races, while the second day has the other two fleet races and ends with The Final – the last race of the event.

The last race of each SailGP event is The Final – a race in which the three highest ranked teams in the event leaderboard face off to be crowned event champions.

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F50-Catamaran - SailGP - Grand Final - San Francisco CA, USA

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Sailgp media technology aims to give 'context to a complex sport'.

The field at the recent SailGP event in Bermuda. Photo: SailGP

Bermuda's sparkling Great Sound offered the perfect arena for SailGP to showcase a media technology which it hopes will help the league backed by Oracle founder Larry Ellison reach new fans and be used by other sports.

As SailGP's futuristic F50 foiling catamarans flew up and down the Bermuda race course, a team in a studio in London were tracking their every move in near real time to make the racing more accessible to viewers on TV and online around the world.

SailGP's graphics package not only clearly shows the course boundaries, how fast the boats are moving and where they stand in the race on virtual "ladder lines", but also salient facts and figures about the 10 teams and their crews.

The technology, dubbed LiveLineFX, is now being developed for other sports, SailGP says, and could be extended to other sailing events, cycling, horse racing, long-distance running, skiing or even surfing.

SailGP, which is also experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the data that it can offer viewers, is not saying who is looking into using the package, which is based on live video, GPS and Oracle's cloud.

"There are a lot of sports out there where you could look at doing something like this," SailGP chief technology officer Warren Jones said on a call ahead of the Bermuda event, adding that it was possible to run virtual ads "at almost no cost".

Photo: SailGP

Not only does centralising broadcast and graphics operations hugely increase the opportunities for sponsors and partners to display their logos and branding on virtual on-screen hoardings, SailGP says, it also saves money and cuts carbon emissions.

Jones and SailGP chief content officer Melissa Lawton also pointed to the potential for attracting new fans to sports where deeper explanation may be needed for people new to the rules.

"At the end of the day, you want to tell a story," Jones said, adding that SailGP's remote cloud-based technology was "far ahead of everyone else".

Lawton, who previously worked for Meta, said that what the graphics allowed SailGP to do was grab the attention of more casual fans by telling them what they needed to know.

"We want to give context to a complex sport," she said during a tour of the SailGP studios last week, adding that the snippets of information communicated visually through the graphics package are often the starting point for new fans.

"We are trying to break down barriers to entry."

Copyright © 2024 , Radio New Zealand

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Sail GP Team Ejected From Boat When Crew Member Pushes Wrong Button

I t’s understandable to assume that yacht racing is solely the purview of ascot-wearing socialites. However, hydrofoiling catamarans used in the highest level of international competition aren’t toys. SailGP yachts are capable of reaching 60 miles per hour. Higher speeds also mean bigger incidents, and Team USA found out the hard way last Friday during practice for the Bermuda Sail Grand Prix.

The Team USA yacht was rounding the first mark when the top of the wingsail inverted, pitching the catamaran over. Almost the entire crew fell from their starboard stations onto the wing, displaying exactly why they all have to wear helmets while racing. SailGP stated that the incident was caused by user error. The user in question was the team’s wing trimmer Victor Diaz de Leon. He said, “While operating the wing, I chose the wrong function on my control panel, which caused our boat to flip. It was very scary and I’m thankful all my teammates are safe.” Data showed he hit that button seven times.

While his teammates escaped the crash unscathed, the damage to the yacht was so significant that Team USA withdrew from the Bermuda Sail Grand Prix before the competition officially began. While visually dramatic, SailGP’s most dangerous crashes are when two or more boats collide. It’s never fun to have carbon-fiber craft with exposed cockpits bashing into each other at nearly highway speeds. In some ways, I’d rather crash a Formula 1 car.

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SailGP Expanding LiveLineFX Graphics Platform to Other Sports

SailGP says its on-screen visuals and graphics solution ‘lends itself naturally to a variety of out-of-stadium sports’

LONDON— SailGP, which sponsors high-speed boat racing events worldwide says it is developing its LiveLineFX sports graphics platform for use in other sports. 

The patented in-house broadcast graphics package, which powers SailGP’s broadcasts, is used remotely from SailGP's broadcast studio in London for SailGP’s broadcast partners in 212 international territories. LiveLineFX processes 1.15bn data requests per hour from each of the ten F50 catamarans per hour. Supplied by Oracle Cloud, it is all done in real time "to generate unrivalled performance information," the company said.. 

LiveLineFX collects the data from the 125 sensors positioned on each F50, with data points ranging from the speed and direction of the boats, weather conditions as well as the sea current, which is then presented as a graphical overlay on top of the racecourse. It is all made possible by a unique combination of live racecourse video shot from a helicopter, high-accuracy GPS and the Oracle Cloud, according to SailGP.. Together these components offer real time data to the LiveLineFX team, enabling them to track the boats within two-centimeter accuracy and deliver seamless graphical overlays of geo-positioned race markers, boundary lines as well as boat positions and relative performance statistics. 

SailGP says the technology and creative elements of LiveLineFX lends itself naturally to a variety of out-of-stadium sports, such as cycling, horse racing, surfing, and any mass participation sports, where it can be tricky for viewers to get the full picture and understanding of what is unfolding in front of them.

“From the outset, SailGP has prioritized patented, leading-edge immersive media technologies and LiveLineFX is an award-winning example of this,” said SailGP Chief Content Officer Melissa Lawton. “It is truly unique and hasn’t just been built for use by SailGP, it has been developed with other sports properties and broadcasters in mind where the viewing experience can be difficult due to the nature of the sport. We are now welcoming conversations with a range of potential partners and are excited to see how other sports can benefit from LiveLineFX.”

SailGP says its LiveLineFX has helped to grow its commercial and audience growth with the league now averaring 14 million dedicated broadcast viewers per event and representing audience growth of more than 300% in the last year alone.

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Entertainment | 30+ festivals, fairs and things to do in the…

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Entertainment | update: eastbound lanes reopen on bay bridge as crews put out grass fire, entertainment, entertainment | 30+ festivals, fairs and things to do in the bay area this summer, here’s a list of upcoming bay area fairs, festivals and fun outdoor activities.

Jurassic Quest: May 17-27 at Santa Clara County Fairgrounds and May 31 to June 2 at Alameda County Fairgrounds. Jurassic Quest transports guests through 165 million years of history with Raptor Training live shows, scientifically accurate dinosaur displays and rideable dinosaurs, plus tons of interactive science and art activities. $19 to $38. jurassicquest.com

Bottle Rock: May 24-26, Napa Valley Expo, 575 Third St., Napa. This annual Wine Country music festival features a fabulous lineup of live entertainment from nationally known artists, singers and bands, as well as gourmet food, wine and beer stalls and a culinary stage. $233. bottlerocknapavalley.com

Foodieland Night Market: May 24-26, Cow Palace Arena & Event Center, 2600 Geneva Ave., Daly City. FoodieLand is a renowned outdoor festival featuring food, shopping, games and live entertainment. This year’s edition promises more than 185 food and retail vendors. $0 to $7. foodielandnm.com

Noise Pop Summer of Music: June through Aug., various San Francisco venues. Noise Pop is bringing unique musicians of all styles and genres from around the Bay Area to perform live concerts throughout six neighborhoods across the city all summer long. Free. summerofmusicsf.com/

Bay Area Book Festival: June 1-2, Downtown Berkeley venues. Authors descend on this festival from all over the world, bringing the best of contemporary literature to local book lovers. In addition to author readings and discussions, this festival traditionally features literary exhibitors, gourmet food booths and children’s activities. Free admission. baybookfest.org/

Walnut Creek Art & Wine Festival: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 1 and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 2, Heather Farm Park, 301 N. San Carlos Drive, Walnut Creek. Enjoy wines from Paso Robles and Lodi and around the world, as well as craft beer at the festival’s beer garden, then browse the art stalls and food offerings. Admission is free, food and wine available for purchase. walnut-creek.com/art-wine-festival-2024/

Redwood Mountain Faire: June 1-2, Roaring Camp, 5401 Graham Hill Road, Felton. Dance the day away to live music while enjoying tasty, locally made food, cold beer, cider and wine in an open field surrounded by redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains. $0 to $90. redwoodmountainfaire.com/

Sacramento Water Lantern Festival: 5:30 to 10 p.m. June 1-2, 8556 Gibson Ranch Park Road, Elverta. Come out for a family-friendly day of music, food and fun, complete with the opportunity to design and launch your very own water lantern. $36 to $56. waterlanternfestival.com/sacramento.php

Wharf Walks: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., June 1, July 6, Aug. 3, 1 Old Fisherman’s Wharf, Monterey. Monterey’s Fisherman’s Wharf Association continues its popular Wharf Walks with award-winning Monterey Bay Fisheries historian and author Tim Thomas. Attendees will gain  insight into the cultural history of the wharf and surrounding neighborhoods. Free. montereywharf.com/

Pub in the Park: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 1, July 13, Aug. 3 and Sept. 7, Red Morton Park, 1120 Roosevelt Ave., Redwood City. Enjoy a leisurely summer afternoon lounging in the park while listening to bluegrass, sipping delicious local brews and enjoying lawn games. Each event features a variety of microbreweries and food trucks. Free admission. tinyurl.com/RedwoodPubinthePark

The Fleetwood Mac Concert Experience: 3 p.m. June 2, San Jose Convention Center, Montgomery Theater, 271 S. Market St., San Jose. Los Angeles-based ‘Gypsy Dreams’ brings its exciting Fleetwood Mac tribute to the Bay! This concert will take you back to the days when album rock ruled FM radio and timeless songs like “Rhiannon” and “You Make Loving Fun” were the soundtracks of our lives. $39 to $49. tinyurl.com/FleetMacSanJose

Circus in the Parks: June 5 to July 21, various Bay Area locations. Watch in awe as the vivaciously colorful Circus Bella Company, comprising a diverse troupe of acrobats, aerialists, jugglers, and clowns from the Bay Area and beyond, performs to the lively tunes of Rob Reich and the 6-piece Circus Bella All-Star Band. Free. circusbella.org/circusintheparks

Movies on the Square: June 6 to Aug. 29, Courthouse Square, Redwood City. Gather your friends and family, grab a blanket or a lawn chair and head on over to Redwood City’s outdoor movie series, featuring everything from family-friendly favorites to cult classics. Free. redwoodcity.org/residents/redwood-city-events/movies

Monterey Artichoke Festival: June 8-9, Monterey County Fair and Event Center, 2004 Fairgrounds Road, Monterey. This annual festival features an extravaganza of delicious artichoke-centric food and wine tastings. $10 to $20 admission. artichokefestival.org/

Dia de Portugal Festival: June 9, History Park, 1650 Senter Road, San Jose. In June, Americans of Portuguese heritage join together with others throughout the world in a celebration of Portuguese culture. Enjoy a day of entertainment, savor Portuguese foods and watch a traditional Portuguese parade. Free admission. diadeportugalca.org/

Filoli Summer Nights: 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, June 12 to Sept. 19, Filoli Historic House & Garden, 86 Cañada Road, Woodside. Slow down, smell the roses and watch the sun dip behind the mountains while enjoying bar libations, food trucks, and acoustic tunes in the garden. $0 to $38. filoli.org/summer-nights

Sculpture in the Garden: June 15 to Aug. 11, Ruth Bancroft Garden & Nursery, 1552 Bancroft Road, Walnut Creek. Visitors are invited to immerse themselves in the beauty of the Ruth Bancroft garden while admiring a stunning array of sculptures. Each piece has been carefully curated to complement the natural surroundings, creating a harmonious blend of art and nature. $0 to $12. ruthbancroftgarden.org/sculpture-in-the-garden/

Lakefest Oakland: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 22, Lake Merritt, Oakland. This annual festival celebrates East Bay culture and community with an artisan marketplace, tasty food vendors, a beer and wine garden, a tech pavilion, a kids fun zone and live music. Free admission. lakefestoakland.com/

Sounds of the Shores: 5 to 7 p.m. June 30, July 21 and Aug. 18, Marlin Park, Redwood City. Enjoy the beautiful summer weather while listening to live music performances by talented local artists from the water’s edge of the Redwood Shores lagoon. In addition to the music, there will be food trucks on site for you all your tasty eats needs. Free admission. tinyurl.com/ShoreSounds

High Sierra Music Festival: July 4-7, Plumas County Fairgrounds, 204 Fairground Road, Quincy. Join this annual pilgrimage to experience musical magic, artisanal food and drinks, arts and craft vendors, parades and mindfulness activities. Find updated ticket information at highsierramusic.com/

Hops & Creek Brewfest: July 6, 1375 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. Walnut Creek’s annual craft beer festival is once again taking over Civic Park for July 4th weekend. Enjoy good food, live music and fun activities while sampling sips from more than 20 NorCal breweries. Find updated ticket information at hopsandcreek.com/

California State Fair: July 12-28, 1600 Exposition Blvd., Sacramento. Join this showcase of California’s industries, agriculture and diversity. The state fair features blue-ribbon animal displays, culinary delights and competitions, live music, a carnival, fireworks and other family fun. $0 to $16 admission, rides prices separately. calexpostatefair.com/

Taste of Napa: 12 to 3 p.m. July 13, Meritage Resort And Spa, 875 Bordeaux Way, Napa. Festival Napa Valley’s Taste of Napa celebration will feature more than 70 wineries, breweries, restaurants and culinary artisans, plus live music, games, activities and a special international wine showcase. $150 to $295. festivalnapavalley.org/calendar/taste-of-napa-2024/

SailGP Season 4 Championship: July 13-14, San Francisco Bay. Following 13 events of intense, stadium style racing at the most iconic venues in the world, the 10-strong F50 fleet returns to San Francisco to decide the ultimate winner of Season 4. Five fleet races will propel the top three teams into the winner-takes-all Grand Final showdown. Free viewing along the waterfront, various event packages available. sailgp.com

Northern Nights Music Festival: July 19-21, Cooks Valley Campground, 83950 Road 442E, Piercy. This annual festival features live music performances, art displays and vendors, regional craft brews and wines, organic food offerings and mindful spaces for yoga and meditation including tree and hammock lounges. $299-$499. northernnights.org/

Italian Family Festa San Jose: Aug. 3-4, History Park, 1650 Senter Road, San Jose. This annual festival showcases authentic Italian culture, music, food and wine. In previous years, this festival has also offered grape stomping, a wine garden and kids activity area. Free admission. italianfamilyfestasj.org/

Outside Lands: Aug. 9-11, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. This annual outdoor extravaganza celebrates live music as well as Bay Area food, wine, beer and comedy. The 2024 lineup includes big-name artists like The Killers, Grace Jones, Tyler the Creator, Renee Rapp, Chappell Roan, and The Postal Service. Find updated ticket information at sfoutsidelands.com/

Gravenstein Apple Fair: Aug. 10-11, Ragle Ranch Regional Park, Sebastopol. Experience farm life through hands-on demonstrations, savor foods made by local chefs using local ingredients, sip locally made beverages and learn about the history of Gravenstein farming, all while enjoying live music. $0 to $30 admission. gravensteinapplefair.com/

Brick Fest Live: Aug. 17-18 at Alameda County Fairgrounds and Sept. 14-15 at Sacramento’s SAFE Credit Union Convention Center. This bonanza of a brick fest offers life-size models, hands-on attractions and shopping opportunities for hard-to-find LEGO merchandise. $16.99 to $34.99. brickfestlive.com/

Hot Wheels Glow Party: Aug. 24-25, Chase Center, 1 Warriors Way, San Francisco. The Hot Wheels Glow Party production features fan-favorite monster trucks, a laser light show, spectacular theatrical effects, dance parties, giveaways, robot performances and the high-flyers of Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live freestyle motocross team. Tickets start at $47.50. tinyurl.com/HotWheelsGlow

158th Scottish Highland Gathering and Games: Aug. 31-Sept. 1, Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton. Enjoy sports competitions and athletic feats, traditional music and dance, Celtic heritage events and whisky tastings. $0 to $35 admission. thescottishgames.com/

Extraordinary Cow Palace: Now through 2026, San Mateo County History Museum, 2200 Broadway, Redwood City. The Cow Palace has been an important part of Bay Area history for more than 83 years. Now the San Mateo County Historical Association is preserving, celebrating and sharing this history with a new exhibit exploring the landmark venue and its many events. $0 to $6. historysmc.org/exhibits/extraordinary-cow-palace

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LIVE: Reaction as Verstappen equals historic pole record

Follow along with live coverage of qualifying ahead of the 2024 F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix!

Following a fragmented FP3, which came with its own frenetic conclusion, it is time for qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc headed both practice sessions on Friday at Imola, in his new and improved SF-24.

Whilst he was not able to continue that form this morning, he will be in the fight for pole position - as will team-mate Carlos Sainz, no doubt.

The McLarens did not have the opportunity to show their pace yesterday, but were mighty impressed in FP3. Leading a one-two was Oscar Piastri, three-tenths of a second clear of Lando Norris.

Lastly, the off-colour Red Bull of Max Verstappen endured a torrid FP1 and FP2. Things did look better in the final practice session, but he will be under pressure from the Ferraris and McLarens.

His team-mate Sergio Perez bringing out a late red flag denied the opportunity to fully access the one-lap pace of the three teams. There are plenty of unknowns, but we do know it is likely to be close.

Follow all the action with the RacingNews365 qualifying live blog below!

Qualification - Emilia Romagna

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In the latest episode of the RacingNews365.com podcast, Ian Parkes, Samuel Coop and Nick Golding look ahead at this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The trio discuss last season's cancelled race at Imola, whether McLaren's Miami pace is genuine and if Mercedes teenage sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli will make his debut before he turns 18.

Want to watch the podcast instead of just listening? Check it out here.

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Orcas have sunk another vessel off the European coast. Why won't they stop ramming boats?

The orcas are at it again: for the seventh time in four years, a pod of whales has sunk a boat after ramming it in Moroccan waters off the Strait of Gibraltar. 

The 15 metre-long yacht Alborán Cognac, which carried two people, encountered the highly social apex predators at 9am local time on Sunday, Spain's maritime rescue service said.

The passengers reported feeling sudden blows to the hull and rudder before water started to seep into the sailboat. It is not known how many orcas were involved.

After alerting rescue services, a nearby oil tanker took them onboard and carried them to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory on Spain's southern coast.

Nothing could be done to save the sailboat, which drifted and eventually sank. 

It's the latest incident in what has become a trend of hundreds of interactions between orcas and boats since the "disruptive behaviour" was first reported in the region in May 2020. 

The origin of this new behaviour has baffled scientists, though the leading theory suggests this "social fad" began as a playful manifestation of the whales' curiosity.

Where have orcas interacted with boats?

The latest data from the Atlantic Orca Working Group (GTOA), an organisation that contributes to the animals' conservation and management, shows that there have been at least 673 interactions since 2020. 

GTOA defines interactions as instances when orcas react to the presence of approaching boats with or without physical contact. 

The map below shows the highest numbers of encounters from April to May 2024 took place off Spain's southern coast in the Strait of Gibraltar (red zones), with some lesser activity in surrounding areas (yellow zones). 

A 2022 peer-reviewed study published in the Marine Mammal Science journal found the orcas in these areas preferred interacting with sailboats — both monohulls (72 per cent) and catamarans (14 per cent) — with an average length of 12 metres.

A clear pattern emerged of orcas striking their rudders, while sometimes also scraping the hulls with their teeth. Such attacks often snapped the rudder, leaving the boat unable to navigate.

"The animals bumped, pushed and turned the boats," the authors of the report said. 

Adding this week's encounter, there have been seven reported cases of orcas damaging a boat so badly that it has sunk, though the people onboard were rescued safely each time.

In June 2023, a run-in with the giant mammals in the Strait of Gibraltar forced the crew competing in The Ocean Race to drop its sails and raise a clatter in an attempt to scare the approaching orcas off. 

No-one was injured, but Team JAJO skipper Jelmer van Beek said that it had been a "scary moment".

"Three orcas came straight at us and started hitting the rudders," he said.

"Impressive to see the orcas, beautiful animals, but also a dangerous moment for us as a team ... Luckily, after a few attacks, they went away."

After analysing 179 videos and photos of these types of interactions, which lasted on average 40 minutes, researchers concluded there was no reason to classify the events as intentionally hostile behaviour.

"The behaviour of orcas when interacting with boats is not identified as aggressive," they said.

"One of their main motivations has been identified as competition with boats for speed."

Still, the researchers of the study admitted they were not sure what triggered the novel behaviour in 2020.

"We are not yet certain what the origin of these interactions is, but it is still suspected that it could be a curious and playful behaviour," they wrote.

"[The behaviour] could be self-induced, or on the other hand it could be a behaviour induced by an aversive incident and therefore a precautionary behaviour."

Are the same orcas responsible for these incidents?

Out of around 49 orcas living in the Strait of Gibraltar, GTOA researchers found a total of 15 whales  from at least three different communities participated in the unusual interactions with boats between 2020 and 2022.

Most of those that engaged with greater intensity were juveniles, though it's unclear if others have since joined the group.

These giant mammals, which belong to the dolphin family, can measure up to eight metres and weigh up to six tonnes as adults.

The director of the Orca Behaviour Institute, Monika Wieland Shields, has said there is no evidence to prove the theory these whales were seeking vengeance against humans for a past trauma.

"While I'm sure it feels like an attack for the people on board, for the whales themselves, it really looks more like play behaviour," she said.

"There's something intriguing or entertaining to them about this [boat rudder] mechanism and they're just showing a lot of curiosity about it."

Ms Wieland said it's likely this new behaviour spread through the population as a kind of "social fad".

"Orcas are highly intelligent, very social animals, and with that comes a tendency to be curious about and explore your environment," she said.

"One thing that we see are these kind of fad behaviours that will appear in a certain population.

"One whale discovers something, they find it entertaining or interesting, or fun — it's some type of game. And then they will teach that to other members of their family group."

Are orcas dangerous to humans?

While orcas have earned their fearsome reputation for preying on other marine animals, there is no record of them killing humans in the wild. 

In captivity, orcas have killed four people since the 1990s, though it's unclear whether the deaths were accidental or deliberate attempts to cause harm.  

Ms Shields said she was worried the recent interactions between orcas and boats would skew people's perceptions of these mammals.

"I am concerned that people are going to react with fear, potentially injure or shoot at some of these whales," Ms Shields said.

"We really need to educate boaters about the best things that they can do to make themselves less attractive to the whales and the best case scenario would be the whales lose interest in this and move onto something less destructive."

Spain's Transport Ministry advises that whenever boats observe any changes in the behaviour of orcas — such as in their direction or speed — they should leave the area as soon as possible and avoid further disturbance to the animals.

The ministry also states every interaction between a ship and an orca must be reported to authorities.

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