Is it time for SailGP to shake things up?
Maybe it was the 07:30 start time in Europe, or the light winds on Sydney Harbour turning racing into a driftathon, but I found myself yawning my way through both days of SailGP Sydney.
I’ve covered sailing long enough to know better than to complain about the wind. I’ve sat on the side of many a media boat staring at limp red and white AP flags. I’ve also watched those same flags snap and crack above the yacht terrace as a full Mistral turns the racing area into a foaming hellscape.
Sailing is weather dependent. Always has been and always will be.
But SailGP deserves credit. The innovations on the F50s have stretched the viable racing window at both ends of the wind range. In this weekend’s Sydney conditions, no other racing boats would have put on any better a show.
But my issue wasn’t really the breeze or the slow pace of the racing.
It was more about a creeping sense that I had seen it all before...