When SailGP Season 3 commences on May 14th in Bermuda, Canada’s first-ever fully professional sailing team will be on the start line among the field of ten F50 foiling catamarans.
Since the beginning of the year, Phil Robertson (NZL), Driver for the Canada SailGP Team, has been trialing and training a curated selection of Canada’s top sailors at the F50 simulator in Belfast and onboard the team’s GC32 foiling catamaran in Portugal. F50 safety training followed soon thereafter in San Francisco, in the lead up to the SailGP Season 2 Grand Final.
“Phil knows what it takes to bring a new team up to speed and has done it successfully twice,” said Jean-Sébastien Chénier Proteau, CEO of the Canada SailGP Team, noting Robertson’s involvement with the Chinese and Spanish teams. “Canada won’t be an exception.
“We have amazingly talented sailors, yet very little foiling experience. It’s the team’s vision that the Canada SailGP Team changes this and that it truly is the catalyst for sailing across the country.”
The lineup for the Canada SailGP Team for the start of SailGP Season 3 includes Olympians Tom Ramshaw (Toronto, ON; Finn and ICLA 7) as a grinder and tactician, Luke Ramsay (Vancouver, BC; 470 and Nacra 17) as a flight controller, as well as Tim Hornsby (Dartmouth, NS; Sprint canoeist) as a grinder, who brings his foiling experience from 36th America’s Cup Challenger American Magic.
Olympic 49er campaigner Georgia Lewin-Lafrance (Chester, NS) and Isabella Bertold (Vancouver, BC; ILCA 6 World Cup medalist) have joined the team in the roles of strategist and co-pilot and are also part of the SailGP Women’s Pathway Programme to accelerate opportunities for female athletes. Bertold will also be leading the roll out of the team’s Purpose strategy, aiming for a podium finish in the Impact League this season.
Professional sailor Billy Gooderam (Toronto, ON) brings his 49er experience to the role of flight controller, while Jareese Finch (Victoria, BC) will contribute his fire power and experience from the Maxi 72s and TP52 Class to his role onboard as a grinder.
Robertson has also recruited Graeme Sutherland as wing trimmer. Sutherland was born in Edmonton and grew up sailing in the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron youth squad before going on to compete and coach at an international level.
Rounding out the team is high performance coach and Olympian Joe Glanfield (GBR) who brings his sought after expertise to Phil and the Canadians as Season 3 quickly approaches.
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