Andrew: Making A Final Is Not Far Away
U.S. SailGP Team strategist Andrew Campbell previews the DP World Spain Sail Grand Prix
Published 09/29/2025
Andrew Campbell took advantage of a watching brief in Geneva, pointing to signs of progress for the U.S. SailGP Team.
Light wind conditions meant the strategist role was sacrificed as the team sailed three up on both days of the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix. But from the chase boat, Andrew was encouraged by the team’s performance in tough conditions.
He said: “We’ve been developing the six-person configuration with new people on board and new people in the booth. Then to jump right in and add the complication of the three-man configuration, with my voice moving from the yacht to the chase boat – there’s a lot of complication for a relatively new group.
“When we all better understand and communicate with each other, that’s where the gains come.
“We’re taking those as good opportunities to learn and get ourselves set up for next season, Cádiz and Abu Dhabi. It’s all really positive, and the results are showing incremental gains. We are seeing small changes and small gains, and we know it’s going to bear out in the results.
Strategist Andrew Campbell believes the U.S. SailGP Team should be targeting a place in the Final soon
“At some point, we’ll have a complete weekend with eight races, with all six people on board, and we’ll make a Final. That’s not far away. To come away from Sunday with the second-best day of the fleet – that’s the kind of racing we’re capable of, and we know it.”
Fourteen points accrued from just two races on Sunday underlined Andrew’s confidence in the team as Taylor Canfield, Michael Menninger and Hans Henken delivered a pair of P4s.
Ultimately, the U.S. SailGP Team was just nine points shy of a place in the Final in Geneva. Andrew insists making that final jump is the hardest part of the process.
He said: “The next step isn’t huge in order to be really successful. Those steps are often the hardest; being consistent, stacking up decent middle to upper-range results, and cascading into a podium finish. That’s not far away.
“But there are 12 other teams doing the exact same thing – reviewing, refining and trying to make their own small gains. We know we’re not alone in trying to make that jump.
“It’s like the NFL – 32 teams, and the difference between the best team and the worst team is paper thin. To think the bottom team isn’t a good football team is kidding yourself. I feel strongly that it’s the same here.
"Seeing us at the bottom of the leaderboard doesn’t reflect this team’s capabilities. We just need to put up a result that quietens the noise.”
That starts this weekend at the DP World Spain Sail Grand Prix in Cádiz – a venue the U.S. SailGP Team has enjoyed visiting before, winning in Season 4 and recording two 2nd-place finishes prior to that with Andrew part of the Crew.
Andrew Campbell says the difference between the top of the SailGP fleet and the bottom is small
“My take is like in the movie Hoosiers, where the coach measures the hoop and the foul line and says it’s the same as their practice court. That’s how we need to approach Cádiz,” explained Andrew.
“It’s the same start line we’ve been practicing on all year. We just need to execute our processes on this “basketball court.” So when Saturday comes, we go do four races and execute each one the way we know we can.
“Our priority in Cádiz is simple: finish every race for the weekend.”
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