Andrew: We Were Small Decisions Away From The Podium
vU.S. SailGP Team strategist Andrew Campbell writes to you following the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix
Published 02/20/2026
The Auckland event was really successful for us. It continues to show how competitive the fleet is and how we need to get better. But we were probably one or two small decisions away from being on the podium. We have the right things lining up to continue to put the pressure on and continue to do well.
However, the lows of the weekend were really low, if I’m honest with you all. The crash that the French and the Kiwis had was really scary. It affected us on board as soon as it happened. We turned up at the bottom and were immediately overcome with the fears and emotions. We wanted to know that they had 12 helmets and that they were looking okay back there. When we knew that people were injured, we were really concerned.
A really scary moment
We all have really good friends over there, and if anybody had been injured, it was going to be something bad. Personally, I’ve been a teammate of Louis (Sinclair) since 2014 with Oracle in Bermuda. I know him very, very well. It was a really emotional couple of days for me because I knew that my friend was in a bad way. It’s hard to have those kinds of incidents happen and put them completely out of your mind and go racing again.
READ MORE: DAY 1 ABANDONED FOLLOWING COLLISION
In any postponement in sailing, you have to relax and not be hyper-stimulated the whole time while you’re waiting. At the same time, we were fully conscious of the fact that we were probably not going to race again because the collision and the safety teams were diverted to take care of the two boats and the people.
In all likelihood, it was going to be postponed for a while and ultimately canceled. The mentality shifts very quickly from prioritizing racing to prioritizing safety and your friends and making sure everybody is going to be okay.
When we got in, we had a lot to unpack as a team in terms of our communication and execution on Saturday. But, if I’m honest, I couldn’t bring myself to do that. I knew our team could make a good step forward and review the day effectively.
Andrew Campbell (right) and Taylor Canfield in cockpit one of the U.S. SailGP Team F50 in Auckland
The guys gave me the gift of being able to go and support Louis and his brother Alex - who I raced with on this team in Seasons 2 and 3 - in the hospital that night. I went up there and spent basically the rest of the evening with them, trying to support our friends as much as I could.
I want to extend my best wishes to Manon Audinet from the French team, as well as Louis, for full and speedy recoveries. They’re both great competitors and I know we’re all looking forward to seeing 13 F50s with their full crews lining up as soon as it’s safe to do so.
Leading from the front
Returning to the action, Sunday’s win felt really good and met our expectations about how we know it should go sometimes. To be able to start well, execute well, and finish well was a really good feeling because this team hasn’t necessarily put together a result like that in any race in a while.
That’s how we all know we should be able to go. To know you can do it is a really important confidence builder, and we’re just putting it in our toolbox to say, “This is how it should look.” We can have this as a frame of reference now and take it forward.
The feeling we had on board felt the same as other strong races. We’ve come through the fleet before - maybe coming around Mark 1 in seventh or eighth, then chipped away and finished third or fourth. Some of those races feel better because you’re making gains the whole time and passing people. It feels great to see good decisions reflected immediately in gains.
When you’re leading, nobody in the fleet is going to give it to you. They’re trying to take what you have. So you’re playing defense and thinking about how to stay ahead, whether that’s making an extra maneuver or making it hard on them. It’s never easy to be in front. A bunch of good decisions might not show on the water other than you’ve maintained your lead.
The intensity is still there. You have to continue to do the right things all the time. Everybody on board knows how to do that. The rewarding part is coming away with a win. That’s the absolute goal for all these races. It’s not going to happen every race, but it should and that is the standard we hold ourselves to every time we go out on the water.
It’s a quick turnaround to Sydney and we’re all excited to build on the positives from Sunday and put more points on the board.
See you out there,
Andrew
Enter to Win
Fill out the form to submit your entry...
Enter Now
Support
Contact
Powered By
© FanCapital LLC