All you need to know before SailGP Portsmouth - The Foil Podcast - Ep 29

Episode 29 previews SailGP Portsmouth – the eighth event of SailGP season six – from every angle. Andy Rice goes over his conversation with Ben Ainslie this week: the reset the champions are after following an Americas leg bookended by disaster, comms that aren't as tight as last year, Stu Bithell stepping into big shoes, and the questions hanging over the back end of the season.Freddie Carr considers the crowd to be a genuine performance factor, drawn from standing on a boat in front of a packed Portsmouth grandstand himself, and reckons Emirates GBR will enjoy the pressure rather than crack under it.Then looking at the racecourse itself – thermals off Southsea, Spitbank Fort and bollards inside the boundaries, the peculiar course shape that shuts down the slingshot start, a 300-metre first reach, an east-going tide and the bottom gate that decided last year's event final.Plus: Lewis Smith's scoop on the group reorder, split fleets looking set to become a fixture, Martine Grael back in the driving seat, and the umpires’ talk of "anticipation".If you’re in Portsmouth on Sunday morning then be sure to come and say hi. Get your tickets to The Foil’s first live podcast here: https://thefoil.com/news/our-first-ever-live-and-in-person-podcast-sailgp-portsmouth/Comments are now live on thefoil.com so be sure to create your account and join the conversation under any of our articles. And follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube.READ MORE: Andy Rice talks with Craig Mitchell on the art of remote umpiring https://thefoil.com/news/why-refereeing-sailgp-is-just-getting-harder/READ MORE: Lewis Smith on SailGP's split-fleet rule change https://thefoil.com/news/return-of-the-death-group-sailgp-tweaks-how-groups-are-seeded/00:00:00 Start00:06:13 Portsmouth SailGP weather and racecourse preview00:13:10 Permanent split fleet format?00:15:53 Form guide and predictions for Portsmouth00:20:23 Middle East cancellations and Ben Ainslie interview00:31:11 Martine Grael returns as driver for Brazil00:36:51 The controversial “anticipation” rule in SailGP00:43:38 America's Cup + SailGP calendar clashListen to our podcast on Spotify and other platforms: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/NSR2217026422#TheFoil #WeAreTheFoil #SailGP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices