Ahead of the opening event of SailGP Season 4, Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team has unveiled a first-of-its-kind solar panel installation with its partner Low Carbon, doubling down on their commitment to become one of the most sustainable elite sports team in the world. The bespoke renewable energy installation has been created with the ambition of taking the team’s entire race operations off-grid and was unveiled at the Rolex United States Sail Grand Prix at Navy Pier in Chicago.
Last month, Emirates GBR came third in the $1m Season 3 Grand Final in San Francisco, with Australia taking home the prize and New Zealand finishing in second place. On Friday, Season 4 kicks off with racing taking place on the iconic freshwater Lake Michigan in Chicago. The fan-focused, two-day spectacle of exhilarating racing will take place on Friday and Saturday immediately adjacent to Navy Pier. The 10 -strong national fleet, including the newest addition Germany, will battle it out in short, intense races competing on the F50 catamaran, a race boat that “flies” out of the water and can reach speeds in excess of 60mph. For UK fans, it’s never been easier to watch the world’s most exciting race on water, with ITV the new official UK broadcaster of the sport. All events in Season 4 will be available to watch across the ITV digital and linear network, including ITV1, ITV 4 and ITVX.
Emirates GBR squad line-up consists of Sir Ben Ainslie as Driver, Hannah Mills OBE as strategist, Iain Jensen as Wing Trimmer, Luke Parkinson as Flight Controller, Neil Hunter as Grinder, Nick Hutton as Trimmer/Grinder, Hannah Diamond as Strategist and finally Matt Gotrel returns as Grinder after missing the last two events recovering from injury after his spectacular overboard incident in Sydney last February.
On Thursday evening, Emirates GBR strategist Hannah Mills got to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the Chicago Cubs baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hannah was guest of honour at Wrigley Field and was welcomed on to the pitch by cheering fans at the 40,000-capacity stadium and was the Cubs’ lucky charm as they went on to beat the Pirates 7-2.