SailGP Plymouth: In a League of its own

The Great Britain Sail Grand Prix took place 17-18 July in Plymouth and was won by Tom Slingsby’s Australia, winning its first event of Season 2, finding the form that had secured its Season 1 Championship win.

The home crowd were not disappointed, as the high numbers that turned out in the sweltering 30 degree heat, gave Great Britain a rousing cheer when it was first to cross the finish line in the first fleet race on day two, but the home team could only manage a fourth place overall in Plymouth.    

But the weekend wasn’t all about the racing. SailGP also launched the Impact League - a world-first that is logging the SailGP teams’ sustainability actions - in their efforts to mitigate climate change.

Ultimately racing for purpose, as well as sport and playing to the competitive nature of the world-class athletes, it features a leader board to record the positive actions taken by each of the eight teams to reduce their overall carbon footprint. Each team is scored against 10 criteria, ranging from using new, carbon reducing technologies, to reducing single use plastics. The Impact League will also record each team’s efforts to accelerate inclusivity in sailing. The leader will be crowned at the end of the Season, in March 2022, in San Francisco, alongside the overall season champion.    

Planning is absolutely critical, if you want to provide a seamless integrated logistics service. Where SailGP is all about speed and performance, Kuehne+Nagel is all about planning and precision. And it’s so good, when each element comes together in such harmony, as it did in Plymouth.

Tune in for news as the next event - the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix - takes place in Aarhus, Denmark, 20-21 August.