Sebastien Schneiter will be the helmsman of the new Switzerland SailGP Team; the team will join for Season 3 of SailGP which starts in May 2022 and be part of the competition for the next three years
Wednesday 29 September 2021 12:13, UK
Switzerland will join SailGP as a new team from Season 3 and be helmed by Sebastien Schneiter.
Season 3, which starts in May 2022, will see the new team go head to head against rival national teams from Australia, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Japan, Spain, New Zealand and the United States.
Schneiter, who competed at the recent Tokyo Olympics in the 49er class, will be at the helm for a young and ambitious team that will carry the colours of Lundin Energy during the next three years.
"This is a major new chapter for Swiss sailing," Schneiter said. "Our goal is to create a competitive team with the best Swiss sailors. We have to learn at first, but our aim is to sail at the front and compete with the best."
SailGP was established in 2018 and it's now in the middle of its second season.
The annual competition features some of the best sailors in the world competing against each other on identical F50 catamarans. Season 2 will culminate in March 2022 with a $1m winner-takes-all match race in San Francisco.
"We are very pleased to welcome Sebastien and the Swiss team to SailGP - a new expansion franchise for the league," Sir Russell Coutts, SailGP's CEO said.
This is a really exciting moment for SailGP as it takes us another step closer to grow the league to 10 teams and 12 events, providing a consistent annual championship for the world's top professional sailors.
"We look forward to watching Sebastien and his team progress in the league and I am confident they will quickly get up to speed and be competitive alongside the best in the world."
The Swiss team's crew will mainly comprise of young Swiss sailing talent and the experienced international sailor Tanguy Cariou will be their team manager. Swiss Finn champion Nils Theuninck and Arthur Cevey also join the team, which is set to grow rapidly.
"We chose SailGP because it is the world's best organized and most efficient professional championship," Cariou said.
"The boats are high performance one-designs, where the sailors make the difference. The management of the league, its marketing and promotion are also excellent, and constitute an essential asset for the teams and their partners.
"Finally, SailGP's sustainable approach, which aims to minimize its impact on the environment with concrete actions, also fits with our philosophy in this respect."
The Swiss SailGP Team will compete in the next three seasons of SailGP, starting with Season 3 in May 2022 and the team has already commenced their introduction by attending and observing events in Season 2.
The team's aim will be to get up to speed with the class in their first season, before competing against the best SailGP teams and aiming for table-topping performances.
