Jeremy: I Love Shorthanded Racing!
Wing trimmer Jeremy Wilmot reflects on the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix and a unique configuration on the F50…
Published 07/9/2025
The Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix threw up more than its fair share of curve balls – but U.S. SailGP Team wing trimmer Jeremy Wilmot insists he enjoyed going three-up in Race One!
It was a first for the U.S. SailGP Team, with the mandate passed down by SailGP shortly before racing began on Saturday afternoon. The team had prepared but it meant dividing the roles on the boat up between Jeremy, Taylor Canfield and Mac Agnese.
“Honestly, I actually love shorthanded racing,” Jeremy said. “Sailing three-up was amazing. You have to be super creative in how you sail the boat.
“With six crew, I have full power on the wing sheet, Hans (Henken) is flying the boat, there's a jib trimmer, and a strategist at the back feeding us info constantly. But when you start taking people away, others have to fill those roles.
“Suddenly, I have to sail the boat as if I’ll never get help grinding. That means keeping the wing in the right spot at all times, trimming the jib for most of the race. “Taylor has to become tactician and part-time flight controller. And the third crew member has to be the utility player – doing everything and filling all the gaps.
Jeremy Wilmot was one of just three U.S. SailGP Team athletes on the F50 for Race One in New York
“It was a great learning experience. Going from three to four, then having a windy day with six crew – it just showed us we need to be more adaptive. We have to be ready to jump into the boat under any circumstances and execute. That’s what it’ll take to compete.”
In front of a sell-out crowd on both days, the U.S. SailGP Team went 10-10-7-12-7-8. Jeremy believes the key to moving up the fleet lies in finding greater consistency across the race weekend.
He said: “For our home event, we made some big mistakes. We got penalty points, took ourselves out of races, and just didn’t execute. We need to clean that up. We need to re-examine how we’re preparing – what we’re doing before we even show up – and make sure we’re sharp and ready to race.
“I hear this a lot: we have moments of brilliance, we have good races, but you have to be sharp for two straight days. And that’s just to compete – not even to win. If the whole team isn’t sharp for the full two days, you end up with results like we had in New York.
“We owe it to ourselves to figure out what we need to succeed and to re-evaluate how we approach events – making sure we have a strong plan and we’re executing on it.”
READ MORE: Mac - 'There Is a Lot Of Work Ahead'
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