Andrew Campbell: ‘I’m Here To Empower Everyone To Do Their Job Better’
Andrew Campbell speaks after re-joining the U.S. SailGP Team in Great Britain…
Published 07/29/2025
Andrew Campbell left his family vacation to link up with the U.S. SailGP Team once more, having previously sailed with us in Seasons Two and Three of SailGP, and is relishing what he describes as ‘a once in a lifetime opportunity, but for me, this is my second chance’.
Technical issues on Day Two denied the U.S. SailGP Team the opportunity to race in Fleet Races 5 and 6, with Andrew making his long-awaited second debut in Race 7. That meant any opportunity to build on the marginal gains made on Day One was taken out of the team’s hands.
Andrew sees the bigger picture, though, and says his role is to help a still young team fulfil its potential in any way he can.
“I think that our team is on the low end of experience when it comes to the F50s, and the positions that the guys are sailing them,” Andrew explained.
“Everybody in this team has had experience over these last few seasons but, relative to some of the other squads, we’re still a little bit on the green side. So that's been my mentality here and what Mike has asked me to do has been to empower every single person in this team to do their job better; to offer what I can, to say, I've been in your spot before. This is how I've approached it. How can I help you do it better today?’
Andrew Campbell rejoined the U.S. SailGP Team after spending part of Seasons Two and Three with the team
“It's been really fun to jump in and touch every single person on board in a way that says, ‘I'm here to help you and if I can take some burden off of you and put it on my shoulders in the back of the boat, that's fantastic’.
“If just being here for you to say, ‘Hey, I'm struggling with this, what do you think?’ Just having that conversation with somebody who's been down the road before, that's the kind of thing that I think can help a team take a deep breath in and then grow rather than be frustrated.”
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The relationship between Andrew and the U.S. SailGP Team CEO, Co-Owner and strategist Mike Buckley goes back a long way. The two have known each other for 20 years, going back to their high school days and sailing against one another.
Conversations about a possible return weren’t that long but had been ongoing for some time before things fell into place ahead of Portsmouth. Once everything was agreed, Andrew’s focus turned to finding the path to success.
“I know what a successful team looks like and I know this team has the potential to be that. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here, if I'm totally frank,” Andrew said. “I wouldn't have given Mike and the team the time of day if I thought that this team didn't have the potential to do that.
“There is no magic, silver bullet here. But if I can come in and make some connections, if I can get a couple of people firing in a way that maybe they weren't firing before, or they'd been frustrated because of a really simple miscommunication or whatever, then maybe I can breathe some fresh life into some of those scenarios.
“I could already see that kind of stuff happening when I walked in the door,” Andrew continued. “Michael Menninger was a teammate of mine at American Magic; I have a ton of confidence in him. He's a really smart guy, a really observant person that approaches things really analytically and very patiently. He doesn't open his mouth all that often but, when he does, you better pay attention to what he's saying because he's got a lot of really good stuff in his head.
“So I'm excited about the potential for gains here in that way. But, it's hard to walk up to that first event and still get a similar result. So it's going to take some time, and I know that we have the potential to do it. I know we've got some really great sailors here, and it's a really fun squad to be around. I'm looking forward to getting back into it in a couple weeks.”
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