Andrew: We’re Encouraged – Just Not Satisfied
Strategist Andrew Campbell reflects on the season so far and the recent European leg…
Published 10/29/2025
U.S. SailGP Team strategist Andrew Campbell says the team has been encouraged by recent events – but are not fully satisfied.
The seven-week break to the Season 5 SailGP finale in Abu Dhabi provides plenty of time for reflection after an intense period of three events in four weeks in Europe.
Looking back on his first events since rejoining the team earlier this season, Andrew said: “We’re still not happy with the results, but we are happy with the progress. The gains we’re making are subtle, but they’re definitely there, and they’re happening in a way that shows our process is working.
“It’s not quite showing up in the results yet — but I don’t think we should expect to, not in a fleet this good.
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“The gains, especially in the shorthanded setups — four or five people on board — show what we’re doing off the water to get on the same page is paying off. Having Michael (Menninger) on board these last two events full-time is part of that learning curve, and he’s done a great job stepping into that role and taking on extra responsibilities in the shorthanded racing.
“Credit to him, and credit to the rest of the team for picking up those extra responsibilities. We’re encouraged, just not satisfied.”
Andrew says the team is growing in the right areas — communication, trust onboard and race strategy.
Andrew and Peter try their hand at camera work in Cádiz
He said: “The biggest gain we saw in Cádiz was, apart from one race, we were always moving forward through the fleet. We’d start and manage to pick off one or two boats — sometimes four around the racetrack.
“Overall, the attitude was that we were out there attacking the racecourse. We were finding good lanes and making gains from our initial positioning.
“From Saturday to Sunday we made an adjustment and saw benefits in the light-air starting techniques. There’s still room for improvement — we’re planning to tweak a few things if we’re in that lighter configuration again, which we likely will be in Abu Dhabi.
“The process we’re building is about developing a common vocabulary in our team — recognizing patterns and talking about the same things rather than freestyling. That’s a really good direction for us.”
While that direction has yet to be reflected in the Rolex SailGP Championship standings, Andrew believes the U.S. SailGP Team is laying the foundations for Season 6, which will begin in Perth, Australia, in January.
“From a baseline, we said: first, we just need to finish every race. We did that in Cádiz for the first time in the second half of the season. That’s the standard,” Andrew explained. “Now the next one is to finish in the points every race — that one we didn’t hit.
“Then we want to consistently have top-half and podium finishes — and we did that a couple of times that weekend with a few fourths and maybe a third. When we’re in that group now, we’re staying there — we’re not dropping back. So we’re now racing the boat the way we want to. The process is working.”
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