Advertisement

U.S. SailGP Team Names Starting Roster

The United States SailGP Team unveiled details regarding its athlete roster, beginning with the announcement that it has retained American Magic sailors Andrew Campbell, Cooper Dressler and Alex Sinclair.

Andrew Campbell
American Magic’s flight controller, Andrew Campbell, eliminated in the early rounds of the Prada Cup in Auckland, will return to Bermuda for the first event of the 2021-22 SailGP series. Courtesy U.S. SailGP

U.S. SailGP Team helm Jimmy Spithill wasted no time in making the pickups, with all three athletes fresh off a three-year campaign with America’s Cup challenger American Magic, which exited the competition just over one week ago.

Spithill, a two-time America’s Cup winner said: “A winning team starts with the people you surround yourself with. Athletes such as Andrew, Cooper and Alex bring lots of experience to our team and we’re lucky to have them, but we’re not done. We look forward to announcing more team members in the coming weeks.”

The U.S. team will further build out its roster in the coming weeks with the aim of benefiting the sport long-term by creating a competitive and inclusive environment.

Advertisement

Spithill said: “Our goal is to create a roster that is both competitive and represents the sport’s future. A big part of that is changing the top end of the sport to create opportunities for female athletes and we’ve already started to identify several talented women who could complete our roster. In addition to those conversations, we’re excited to also announce that this week we’ll launch an open process for female athletes to apply to join the team.”

Details of the application process will be announced this Thursday, February 11 via the U.S. SailGP Team’s Facebook and Instagram channels.

The new announcements lay down a clear marker of Spithill’s intention to field a highly competitive American team capable of challenging SailGP’s incredibly deep talent pool – which includes Ben Ainslie (GBR), Tom Slingsby (AUS), Peter Burling (NZL) and Nathan Outteridge (JPN) – for the $1 million prize.

Advertisement

Of the team members announced today, Campbell will join the team as one of the most highly respected American athletes in the sport of sailing, bringing a wealth of experience as a tactician. Named by Sports Illustrated as one of Georgetown University’s top-10 athletes, Campbell most recently raced as flight controller onboard American Magic after serving as a tactician for Oracle Team USA alongside Spithill.

Dressler and Sinclair also bring significant skill sets to the program with three America’s Cup campaigns between them.

Campbell said: “I’m excited to not only compete in SailGP but also to contribute to the trajectory of this American team as it looks to the future. When you combine the speed of the F50 with eight teams all featuring incredible talent, fans are in for an epic season.”

Advertisement

The United States SailGP Team will make further announcements in the coming weeks as the anticipation for the start of SailGP Season 2 grows with the Bermuda Grand Prix presented by Hamilton Princess kicking off April 2.

Advertisement

Email Newsletters and Special Offers

Sign up for Sailing World emails to receive racing tips, tactics and techniques, and reviews on the latest boat models as well as special offers on behalf of Sailing World’s partners.
By signing up you agree to receive communications from Sailing World and select partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You may opt out of email messages/withdraw consent at any time.

More Racing

Advertisement