British pin hopes of late SailGP lift on training blitz

Oct 25 - Britain have struggled off the start line this season but the defending champions were the first to grab a week of intensive training at SailGP's new performance facility as they pursue a Grand Final berth, skipper Dylan Fletcher said.

With only two events left, in Dubai and Abu Dhabi next month, the British are fifth in the championship, just behind the US and Sweden, in pursuit of a top-three finish that would earn a place in the winner-takes-all Grand Final.

"We put our name down early to get one of these slots and I think that it's a really good opportunity," Fletcher told Reuters at the start of a week practising in Pensacola, Florida.

SailGP gives crews very little practice on board their F50 catamarans, which can hit more than 100 kph when they lift above the water on foils, a gap the new facility aims to bridge.

"We haven't had the season that we've been happy with at the moment. And this in reality feels like a great opportunity, not just on the water, but off the water," said Fletcher, ahead of the team's first 2-1/2-hour F50 session.

"We're mainly focused on light wind starting... We've seen that as much as we've been still quite good at overtaking, the reality is it's all about the start," said Fletcher.

"The Aussies have been the standout performers and you know that shows," he added of how the season's leaders start.

The British are seeking short-term gains with their week in Pensacola, which can offer the lighter wind conditions that are the norm in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as looking ahead to next season, which starts in Hong Kong in January.

"We want to try and finish this season strong regardless of how it goes... to start off on the right foot (next season) because we obviously haven't been sailing at the level that we expect," Fletcher said.

Despite the team's dip in form, Fletcher has not given up.

"If we sail well enough to win the Grand Final, then we will be in the Grand Final. The momentum is almost more important going into those last two events," the 38-year-old said.

"If you look at how the results generally go, I'd say if we made the final in both (Dubai and Abu Dhabi), it would be surprising if we weren't in the Grand Final," he added.

While Spain's Los Gallos have "pretty much qualified", they have "everything to lose", Fletcher said, adding that the "British underdogs" had "absolutely nothing to lose".

The British are focusing particularly on the pre-start "trigger" manoeuvre used to make sure the boat hits the line at top speed, along with Fletcher's positioning on the course.

"We're going to try and execute that and have a bit of a change in our strategy," Fletcher said, adding: "Hopefully we can just tip the scales back in our favour, and we'll be away and looking like the team that we know we can be." REUTERS