‘Sad day’: Australia loses two team members as SailGP ushers in new era with $20m prize

Australia’s dominant SailGP team is being broken up, with two members of their championship three-peat leaving on the eve of the new season.

Matthew Sullivan

8 min read

November 23, 2024 - 11:45AM

Spain stun Aussies and Kiwis to win SailGP Grand Final

Australia’s all conquering SailGP team has lost one of its original members in a shock move on the eve of the league’s fifth season, which kicks off this weekend in Dubai.

Team Australia has announced wing trimmer Kyle Langford has left the team to join the new Red Bull Italy team, which has Australian sailing legend Jimmy Spithill acting as team CEO.

Langford will be replaced by British sailor Chris Draper — a bronze medallist at the 2004 Olympics who has raced in America’s Cup campaigns and competed in SailGP with Team Japan and Canada.

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Langford was part of all three of Australia’s SailGP championship wins along with driver Tom Slingsby, flight controller Jason Waterhouse and grinder Sam Newton.

Langford wrote on Instagram: “Made the difficult decision a few months back to leave the @sailgpaus team.

“I’ve been very fortunate over the last few years to not only be racing the coolest boats in the world but to do it with my best mates.

“It’s been an epic journey and grateful to have been part of an amazing team with all that we achieved but feel like the time is right to find a new challenge and step outside the comfort zone! Wishing the team all the best!”

Aussie sailor and SailGP commentator Lisa Darmanin described it as the “end of an era”.

“It is a sad day for us,” Slingsby told news.com.au.

“Kyle has been my wingman for 15 years now. Whenever we’ve been successful in events, I’ve always had him by my side.

“He’s decided to take on a new challenge and switch teams.

“He’s a very close friend. For sure, it’s a sad day for me, I’ve never really seen him across the water on another team, he’s always been right next to me.

“At the same time, I totally understand his decision. We’re all athletes and we’ve all got a lifespan. Getting offered a lot more money and perks for him and his family, which allow him to spend more time with his family — I totally understand.

Kyle Langford (far left) is leaving Australia’s SailGP team. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)

“It’s sad but it’s also exciting that for the first time since the start of SailGP we’re had a change with our squad. It’s exciting to me. It sort of breathes a bit more life into us. We’re really talking through everything and addressing things.

“We can’t rely on our chemistry and history because we’ve got a new person coming into the mix so we’ve got to talk about things and our communication. I think that’s a good process for us to do.”

Draper, 46, will be the first non-Australian member of the team in the crew history, joining forces with Slingsby, Waterhouse, Newtown, Kinley Fowler and Tash Bryant.

“Chris Draper’s an amazing talent. Everyone knows his name in the sailing circles,” said Slingsby.

“He’s done a lot of high performance sailing. He was part of the very successful Team Japan, he then switched over to Team Canada and last year he decided he want to take a break from sailing and sit out.

“Chris is very well known for his light air sailing abilities and his ability to get the most out of boats in lighter airs. That’s a weakness for us.

“We thought the addition of Chris to our squad will help one of our biggest weaknesses and he can teach us a lot about sailing in light airs, and maybe we can help him a bit in strong airs, and overall the team will be stronger.

“Bringing Chris on, we’re addressing one of our weaknesses and we’re going to try turn that into a strength this season.”

Aussies lose second team member

Australia have suffered another blow with the team’s reserve Ed Powys leaving to join ROCKWOOL Team Denmark as the respected sailor looks for more opportunity on the water.

Denmark skipper Nicolai Sehested described the move as “a real coup to steal someone of Ed’s ability from one of our key rivals this close to the new season – and we’re delighted to welcome him to the ROCKWOOL Racing team.”

Powys said: “I had three great years with Australia SailGP Team, so there are mixed emotions when it’s time to leave – but when Nicolai called I knew straight away that this was a challenge I wanted to jump on. I’m excited, and I’m ready to get going.”

Tom Slingsby said: “Ed’s move to ROCKWOOL Racing is a fantastic opportunity for him to be in a starting role racing on the F50, and while we are sad to see him leave, we fully support his decision.

“He’s been an integral part of our team over the last two seasons and we are grateful for all he has done to support our success. We know he’s going to be a massive asset to the Danish Team and we wish him all the best.”

Martine Grael will driver a F50 this season for Brazil. Picture: SailGP

Mammoth prize purse up for grabs

SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts has announced a record-breaking US$12.8 million (AUD$19.7M) prize pool will be up for grabs across the season which includes the US$2 million Grand Final. Teams that secure podium finishes at each event will share in the bonus prize money, starting with the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix this weekend.

“Anyone who says that’s not a motivating factor is lying,” Slingsby said.

“We all want to do well, we want success and we want to have our country at the top but we also want to get rewarded for it and that’s motivating for all of us.”

It comes as SailGP announced Rolex as the league’s new title sponsor.

Red Bull Italy and Mubadala Brazil will make their debuts this weekend, with Brazil’s entry a particuarly historic moment for the sport, as the team will be led by SailGP’s first female driver, double Olympic champion Martine Grael.

Slingsby said: “This is really groundbreaking for professional sport as a whole, not just sailing.

“Imagine having a female F1 driver hitting the grid. It’s huge and she has the skillset and the team around her to be a top competitor in this championship.”

Off-season moves galore as SailGP enters new era

Draper’s recruitment is symptomatic of broader movement between SailGP teams with it now commonplace for sailors to race for another country.

Great Britain’s Giles Scott has joined Team Canada to and New Zealand’s Andy Moloney has gone to Team Brazil for their first time this season.

Chris Draper is joining Australia's team. Photo: Instagram.

Kyle Langford is set to join a rival team. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

“Andy Moloney has left the New Zealand team. That’s a huge move also,” Slingsby said.

“He’s sailed with them for over 10 years and he’s a key part of the New Zealand team.

“On paper, the two strongest teams have lost a key person to this transfer season.

“It might be good for the league. Both our teams have to rally and get the right people who can keep that team culture together.

Australia won the first three seasons of SailGP but were beaten by Spain in last season’s winner-takes-all grand final in San Francisco.

The Aussies were catching up to Spain in that race but came off their foils at a crucial moment — one of several technical issues that plagued their campaign.

“That’s the nature of SailGP,” Slingsby said.

“It’s a nine-minute race, whoever gets off the line, there’s not many times to catch up. The Spanish did a great job.

“As frustrating as it was for us, we’ve got to rally and regroup. I hope it starts burning the fire in the belly for all our team members because I know it has for me.

“I want to get back to the top and go back to our winning ways and put Australia on top of the podium again.”

Tom Slingsby is losing his wingman Kyle Langford. Photo: Ricardo Pinto for SailGP.

SailGP is introducing new rules this season in a bid to make racing more even and shake up the leaderboard after Australia and New Zealand’s experienced crews dominated the first few years of the league.

The boats will have new T-Foils, which are expected to make the F50 boats easier to control and give an extra 5km/h of speed.

SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts said the new foils would be a “game-changer for the sport” and mean “teams have more control at high speed and better performance”.

“Fans may be set for a new pecking order and some surprise results next season, which should make for a great spectacle,” he said.

“It will require a whole recalibration of the playbooks and the way these crews sail the boats.

“Of course it advantages the teams with less time in the boat because a lot of that experience on the previous foils is going to shift to new experiences on the T-Foils.”

“The boats will foil a lot earlier and I think that’s going to have the biggest impact on the product.”

“I’ve never sailed with these new foils, but from what I’ve heard, they are easier to sail and it’s an easier job for the flight controller,” Slingsby explained.

“For me, that takes away an advantage the experienced teams have, and the new teams are going to get up to speed faster. I do think that’s going to be an advantage for the newer teams.

“Maybe our advantage of the past is going to be lessened. I mean, the easier you make the boats to sail, the more even the fleet will be.

The rest of Australia’s SailGP team is staying on. Photo: Ricardo Pinto for SailGP.

“The harder the boats are to sail, the more differences you can see. That’s kind of where Australia and New Zealand have had an advantage in the past. That advantage is coming down.

“I haven’t sailed with the new boards, and after the Dubai event, I’m planning on having a practice sail with them.”

Eleven teams will race in Dubai, with France selecting to miss the season opener while it awaits the fleet’s newest F50 catamaran, currently under accelerated development.

France will join the fleet in Auckland after being awarded compensatory points for the Dubai event.

The 2025 season also promises more prize money for SailGP athletes, with the league signalling intentions to significantly increase the overall purse up for grabs across the season, which totalled US $7million (AUD $10.8 million) in season 4 – the largest in the sport.

SailGP Season 5 calendar

Dubai — 23-24 November 2024

Auckland — 18-19 January 2025

Sydney — 8-9 February 2025

Los Angeles — 16-17 March 2025

San Francisco — 23-24 March 2025

Rio de Janeiro — 4-5 May 2025

New York — 8-9 June 2025

Portsmouth — 19-120 July 2025

Sassnitz — 16-17 August 2025

Taranto — 6-7 September 2025

Geneva — 20-21 September 2025