Back In Action: The New Zealand SailGP Team Hits The Waters In Plymouth | Scoop News – Scoop

Saturday, 30 July 2022, 5:30 amPress Release: SailGP

PLYMOUTH, UK | 29 July 2022 BST - TheNew Zealand SailGP Team is feeling fired up ahead of thisweekends Great Britain Sail Grand Prix after takingfirst, third and fourth in practice racingtoday.

Located in Englands beautiful South West,Plymouth will host the third event of the 2022 season overtwo days of racing on Saturday and Sunday, 30-31 July BST /(Sunday and Monday NZT). The event marks the first in theEuropean leg of the championship.

In this morningspre-event media conference, Driver Peter Burling said thecrew was feeling good about their chances.

Werelooking forward to doing our best this weekend - greatforecast, beautiful place to sail. We cant wait to getout there and put our best foot forward, hesaid.

Light and shifty winds saw the team lead thepack from start to finish to take the win in the firstpractice race of the day, while consistency was the name ofthe game in races two and three. With winds expected to pickup on Saturday and again on Sunday, fans should be in for anexciting show as nine, identical, foiling catamarans maketheir way to the startline on the stunning waters ofPlymouth Sound.

Todays practice racing also markeda big debut for the teams latest addition, three-timeOlympian and former world champion Jo Aleh, who joined thecrew earlier this week. Aleh, who won Olympic Gold in London(2012) and Silver in Rio (2016) brings a depth of experienceand Burling says hes impressed with how shes beddedinto the team so far.

Jo is without a doubt amongNew Zealands top sailing talent and she brings a hugeamount of skill and determination to the team, hesays.

The role of strategist makes a big differenceon board and were embracing that. Liv [Mackay] has donean amazing job in the first two events and its good tohave Jo here for this one.

And hopefully, a meetingwith an extra special visitor helps to tip the scales in theKiwis favour, as they take on the Duchess of Cambridge ina one-on-one Commonwealth Race against rivals Great Britainon Sunday (Monday NZT).

With Her Royal Highness onboard with Sir Ben Ainslie and his crew, the New ZealandSailGP Team will be helped out by their own guest racer,endurance swimmer and UN Patron of the Ocean, Lewis Pugh,who dropped in to meet the team today. (photosincluded).

Dubbed the Sir Edmund Hillary ofswimming, Pugh is the first person to complete along-distance swim in every ocean of the world and - likethe New Zealand SailGP Team - is known for using his sportand platform to drive attention to vulnerable ecosystems andthe need for a healthy ocean in particular.

Thisweekends racing will be live on Sky Sport at 1.00 - 3.30AM on Sunday 31 July and Monday 1 August and will beavailable live and on-demand on YouTube. Kiwis can catch upon all the action with full replays both daysat:

07.30 AM on Sky Sport Select and 12.30PM on SkySport 3 on Sunday 31 July, and

07.30 AM on Sky Sportselect and 6.00PM on Sky Sport 3 and 7.30PM and Sky Sport2.

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Back In Action: The New Zealand SailGP Team Hits The Waters In Plymouth | Scoop News - Scoop