- 5 months ago
Dylan Fletcher’s Return to SailGP – New Racing on the Edge Episode Featuring Portsmouth. Credit SailGP.
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00:00Welcome to the Emirates Great Britain
00:06SAIL Grand Prix here in Portsmouth.
00:08And it's the home team feeling the pressure right now.
00:11Today is make or break for Dylan Fletcher and his Emirates GBR team.
00:15Another poor result will surely end any hopes they have
00:18of a place in the season final.
00:21What sailor doesn't dream of winning in front of a home crowd?
00:24This has to be one of the biggest crowds we've seen in SAIL GP.
00:28Dylan needs a podium here, the British need a podium.
00:32Because it's only three teams with the most points
00:35at the end of the season who will fight it out for the title in Abu Dhabi.
00:39But wait Stevie, the French wing has broken.
00:43This is a disaster for Team France, oh my.
00:47It's like there was a green one.
00:50Is this a green one?
00:53No, it's in the right.
00:56It's in the right of Britain.
00:58It's in the right of Britain.
01:01We need to tell them who we need to talk to about.
01:04Hey, hey, sir.
01:05Russell would like to talk to Quentin.
01:07I'd have to ask Gringo if he can call me.
01:11They have access to the rear driver, so I ask him to call me.
01:16They were just straight line and collapsed that way.
01:27As soon as I saw the wing was collapsed, obviously it's like, is everyone okay?
01:31Yes.
01:32Okay, why did that happen?
01:34And then what's the next step?
01:36And I was quite concerned at the time, considering that we've just repaired all the wings here at SailGP, that were we going to have to cancel the day, because it's an unknown of why this happened.
01:49Anton, yeah, I can hear you.
01:51So it's really important that we establish if the four-state broke, because it clearly could have implications for the other boats as well.
02:01So can you check, could somebody check if both ends of the four-state are still connected?
02:07Oh, I'm worried about how this might affect Emirates' GBR, Todd.
02:10If the event is cancelled, then Dylan Fletcher will lose his best chance to mount a much-needed comeback.
02:17All right.
02:18We need to know that as a matter of real urgency.
02:24I don't think...
02:25Yeah, there were...
02:27It seems like the bottom is still okay.
02:29Well, it's a nervous wait as the tech team carries out their investigation.
02:33The question is, will they call off the Grand Prix?
02:37It's a fairytale return to SailGP for Mr. Fletcher, made even more remarkable when you consider it's been four years since he last drove an F50.
03:00That's three Grand Prix finals in a row for Dylan Fletcher and a first win for Emirates GBR.
03:06They lift the wheel here in Sydney.
03:11Dylan leading his British team, they had an awesome start to the season.
03:15First three events, three podiums, you know, you get that confidence from that.
03:19But perhaps arriving with too much confidence to a league with this much talent has the potential to really ruffle some feathers.
03:32I think all of us here in SailGP, you know, have a certain underlying level of confidence and maybe at times it comes across as arrogance.
03:41But in order to compete at the highest level of sport and beat, you know, the other top athletes in the world, I think you need a little bit of that.
03:48And that is it.
04:13Fourth Grand Prix of the year and the first final not to feature Dylan Fletcher.
04:18Momentum shifts to the former GBR driver.
04:21Giles Scott reigns in Los Angeles.
04:23Canada wins.
04:24We're like, no.
04:25You want to close me or no?
04:26I do.
04:27Okay.
04:28Okay, cool.
04:29Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:30Dylan misses his first final of the season.
04:31Giles goes on to win the event.
04:32And I think when you miss out on that final and you're so close, you want to make sure the momentum starts swinging back the right way.
04:37You want to come out firing in San Fran and just say that, you know, that was a blip, but we're back and we're strong.
04:41And the opposite happens for the British team in San Francisco.
04:46It's the final fleet race of day one and Emirates GBR are having a shocker.
04:49They sit in 10th place.
04:51Meanwhile, at the front of the pack, the Emirates winning moment goes the way of the Canadians for the second time today.
04:56Dylan, he's having his worst day of the season.
04:57He is at the back of the pack, and he sees Giles crossing the finish line first.
04:59Ah, ****.
05:00And the opposite happens for the British team in San Francisco.
05:01It's the final fleet race of day one and Emirates GBR are having a shocker.
05:03They sit in 10th place.
05:04Meanwhile, at the front of the pack, the Emirates winning moment goes the way of the Canadians for the second time today.
05:14Dylan, he's having his worst day of the season.
05:19He is at the back of the pack, and he sees Giles crossing the finish line first.
05:24Oh, I think Dylan Fletcher could be attempting something risky here.
05:30He's looking to leapfrog the German and Swiss boats at the final mark,
05:34but this shortcut he's chosen takes him directly into the oncoming wind.
05:38No, we're all hurt. We're going to struggle to get around here with the tide.
05:41I'm sorry, mate.
05:43He may have saved himself attack here, but with the wind in front of him,
05:47he risks bringing his boat to a standstill.
05:50There was a bit of discussion on board as to whether we would make it or not,
05:53and...
05:55You're going to get stuck on this mark?
05:56Yeah, I guess it was the wrong decision.
05:58Take a look at GBR's speed toll. It's plummeting.
06:01They're not going anywhere. What a disaster for Emirates GBR.
06:07Doesn't matter. We don't need to finish.
06:11We've all been there, haven't we? That's an absolute shocker.
06:13We've maybe not all been there on live TV,
06:15but that is an absolute disaster for Emirates Great Britain.
06:17Little mistakes in that thing is going to cost,
06:19and it's not been a great first day for them.
06:21They've got a lot of work to do overnight.
06:24It's rare to see such a big mistake like that in SailGP,
06:28especially when it's coming from the British.
06:30You know, when you were riding on confidence,
06:33and then to go do something like that,
06:36it's super embarrassing.
06:37Breaking news, the creation of a new sailing league has been announced today.
06:50Named SailGP, the league has also announced that the young British sailor,
06:53Dylan Fletcher, will be the first driver of the British team.
06:56In season one, Dylan was the first announced skipper of SailGP.
07:02He would have been ecstatic, something that he probably never dreamed of coming a lot sooner
07:07than he anticipated.
07:08At the end of season one, the CEO, Russell Cootes, makes the call that Dylan Fletcher will no longer be
07:15the driver of Great Britain.
07:17The British driver, Dylan Fletcher, has been dropped from the team.
07:21Replacing him will be the best Olympic sailor of all time, Sir Ben Ainsley.
07:25I completely understood why the league obviously wanted Ben involved,
07:34and why Ben wanted to do it.
07:36But for myself, it was incredibly tough.
07:42It felt as though that could be it.
07:44I may never drive a SailGP boat, an F-50 ever again.
07:48I never forget, we were, we went to the 49er World Championships not too long after,
07:58maybe one or two months.
08:00And it was almost embarrassing, me feeling embarrassed walking into the boat park,
08:04you know, having sort of had the boat taken away from me,
08:07and now no longer competing in SailGP.
08:12I was there on the sidelines, just working out what I could do,
08:15basically to get back into SailGP.
08:18And that resulted in 2022.
08:21I actually ended up working behind the scenes at SailGP,
08:24doing some work in hospitality.
08:26So look, all of the boats to the turn of the thread are absolutely identical, right?
08:32So the wings...
08:33It was a bit of swallowing your ego, swallowing my pride.
08:39You know, he's here, he's working in hospitality,
08:42he's taking people around and, you know, looking at the other sailors going out and racing,
08:48and thinking, I want to be back on these boats.
08:54I certainly remember giving, you know, some tech tours,
08:57and there's one particular time when we were outside the British tent,
09:02and I was supposed to go in and, you know, and I could see everyone at the back,
09:07and I was like, oh, it's just heart-wrenching sort of not being there,
09:12and not sailing, and giving the tour.
09:18I wanted to be on the other side of the fence, I wanted to be bracing,
09:21and I obviously felt as though I could and had the ability to be there,
09:24but I didn't know how I was going to get back, and it was, you know, you see it full bore,
09:29you're not hiding behind it, you're not at home sort of pretending,
09:32you're seeing it, you know, for real, and it's painful.
09:40I really just sort of put my head down and thought, what can I control,
09:44what can make the difference, and sort of just pushed down that alley as hard as I could,
09:49and then just kept pestering Ben until I got given an opportunity.
09:53I got to sail with Ben, and I guess from there Ben really saw,
10:01you know, exactly how I am as a sailor and how I operate,
10:03and I felt like I finally got that opportunity to show what I was made of.
10:07Dylan went from what felt like nothing at the time to then getting back as a driver on an F50 team.
10:20It's the final race here in New York, and Dylan Fletcher in third place is on the attack.
10:26Ahead of him, Giles Scott, the previous driver of Emirates GBR. The fight is on.
10:31Tate, this working business is way worse than actually being, oh my god.
10:35You prefer being out there then?
10:36Yes.
10:38But Giles Scott, on board Northstar Canada, mounts a defence.
10:42He turns to block Dylan's advances.
10:44But Dylan's determined to get around Giles on the Lewis side.
10:48It's the side with the least wind and the most turbulence,
10:51so it's tricky to overtake, but at least they'll have the right of way.
10:55Coming into Lewid of them, having right of way, making sure we gave them room,
11:02but wanted them to make sure that they kept clear and then kept avoiding,
11:06and in our eyes, they weren't doing enough to stay clear.
11:11Protest, protest.
11:13Giles Scott's not budging, Emirates GBR press the protest button.
11:17Get up.
11:18First, left.
11:21Race, race, race, race.
11:22Oh, wow, an incredibly close pass by Emirates GBR.
11:27We could be looking at some boat-on-boat contact here, Todd.
11:32This is the umpire's penalty GBR.
11:34Not giving room when altering course.
11:36Go behind Canada.
11:38And the umpire rules in Canada's favour.
11:41Dylan Fletcher must now surrender second place to Giles Scott.
11:44Are you going to have to go behind Canadians?
11:46Yep.
11:47I didn't think to protest it.
11:49Annie just pressed the protest button on her own accord.
11:53And we were just going to let it fly by and just carry on with our race.
11:58But Annie did a really, really good job to just get straight onto that protest button.
12:03So the umpires took a look at it.
12:06And I thought that there was a rivalry between the Giles Scott and the official.
12:11You're certainly trying to ham it up, that's for sure.
12:16Worst Grand Prix of the season for Emirates GBR.
12:19Absolutely, Todd. And that penalty from the Canadians has cost the Brits a valuable season point.
12:25A setback that could seriously shake up their position on the overall leaderboard.
12:29If Emirates GBR want to remain in the fight for the title, they can't afford another Grand Prix like this one.
12:35Had an overlap and he didn't respond.
12:38Great level. Absolute joke.
12:40I mean, we didn't think there was contact and we thought it was a very clear penalty on the other boat.
12:47So Giles has obviously been a lucky boy potentially this weekend.
12:54Well, with that incident, if it turns out that there was no collision, then he's got away with it.
13:02He's been very lucky.
13:03I mean, well, the umpire made a call on the penalty, didn't they?
13:16Uh, I guess I probably ended up getting a lot of my, a lot of the drive for being competitive from my parents.
13:26If you've ever seen Billy Elliot, that was basically Dad.
13:29He's from Bolton. He lived in a two up, two down. Wasn't allowed on a school bus because he was
13:35obviously gay apparently because he did ballet. And went and became a ballet dancer.
13:41It is literally the story, isn't it?
13:43That is Billy Elliot.
13:44It is literally Billy, yeah. Yeah, 100%. Yeah.
13:46And exactly like Billy Elliot, no money. So full, full scholarship paid for and then ended up as the
13:52principal dancer of the Royal Ballet. And yeah, one of the, basically it was him and Wayne Sleep as the best of that era.
13:58It's amazing. Yeah.
14:03I think the downside if you end up over too arrogant is you, you're blinded. You're blinded by like how
14:10good you think you are and you don't see your weaknesses and you don't see your mistakes.
14:14And then you can't improve because you don't see that someone's beating you and they're beating you
14:21because they're better than you. And you can't see why because you're just like, no, I'm better.
14:25So I think that there's, you have to be confident of your ability and ultimately a lot of, you know,
14:32when you're competing at the highest level of sport, everyone's got a degree of arrogance because you
14:38believe you can beat all these people around you who are all also incredible athletes and in their own
14:43right. But you have to be able to self reflect and, and learn fast. Otherwise, otherwise you'll get left
14:50behind. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
14:53Dylan, he gets very upset if things are not fair. You know, if, if somebody's correct and it's fair,
15:03he's perfectly all right. But if, if it's unfair and he thinks it's not right, he, he does get upset.
15:10But on the other hand, he will, it just says, right, that's it. Out the window, you know, just carry on.
15:18Just turn the other way and just carry on very strong in that respect.
15:23Well, what is that, Dylan? Oh, Jesus Christ. That's big. Yeah. Copy. It looks good.
15:28It is a big picture. No pressure.
15:36Dylan, are you hoping that the home support, um, you know, can kickstart a turnaround?
15:41Yeah, the CRGP season's long and we, we said at the start of the season, it's going to be up and down.
15:46So, um, hopefully we've had our bad events. We put them under the, you know, under the rug and
15:50from here, it'll be all the way to the top.
15:52Giles, how much would it mean to get a victory on the Soilent?
15:56Yeah, it's, uh, I used to live, live here in Portsmouth and it's great to be back and
16:01it'd be nice to ruin the British party a little bit, to be honest.
16:07It's been an eventful morning here in Portsmouth. The French wing broke during the warm-up session,
16:12but we just heard the rest of the fleet is safe to start racing.
16:15It's not the, it's not the fours, though.
16:17I don't know, it's a six, it's a six.
16:20Um, five. Five's a good one.
16:26Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
16:27That's, that's what the problem is.
16:29Anyway, new wing tomorrow.
16:31Oh, yeah? That's a good use.
16:33You think so?
16:34Yeah.
16:34You think you've got another wing ready?
16:36Yep.
16:37But, who, who, new one or?
16:39Well, yeah, the, the, the, the, the D one and the flat one are fine, you know, so,
16:44so I think we'll get another wing in the boat. We'll get another wing in the boat tomorrow.
16:48Might not be fully branded, but we'll get it in the boat.
16:50Yeah.
16:50Okay.
16:57Race one and Charles Scott driving team Canada is perfectly set up to win the start.
17:02Whilst Demerich GBR at the mercy of the Swiss.
17:06Dylan needs this event. The man who lost the team in season one,
17:10won it back again in season five. He cannot, he must not miss this opportunity.
17:14Yep, safe, 5.2.
17:16When you think about the grit that it takes to be able to have everything taken away
17:21and build it back up, you know, that grit shines through because that's what elite sports people do.
17:31Oh, look at this, Todd. Dylan's found another gear.
17:34Emirates GBR win the star. They're rocketing towards mark one.
17:39Dylan Fletcher. Wow. This guy never gives up.
17:42Oh, my goodness me.
17:44When I lost the team after that first season, one thing I did learn from my parents is they
17:49obviously did a lot of auditions and had to deal with that, sort of putting yourself on the line
17:53the entire time. And hopefully one day a door would open up again and I needed to be ready to pounce.
17:59And what a way to start off your home regatta. Race number one at the Emirates great great sale.
18:04Grand Prix Portsmouth goes the way of the home team. Emirates GBR take the win.
18:11Good job, team. Right on. Nice job.
18:13Nice.
18:14Technically, I always wanted to be better and do things better. And it was only a lot later that I
18:25actually thought, you've got to sell it. You've got to be a performer more.
18:30Clear to stage.
18:31Race two. And Dylan Fletcher has just overtaken the Italians to claim second place.
18:36Clear.
18:37Oh, he throws himself to the inside. Digs the nose slightly.
18:42Protests the umpires and comes out strong.
18:44Oh, Dylan's really showing off in front of his home crowd.
18:48I think what's so important to realize is that you can be as technical. This is dancing theater,
18:58but you do need to actually smile and enjoy it and make people watch you. And that's the important thing.
19:06Race three at Emirates GBR are ninth. Is this going to be it for Dylan Fletcher?
19:11I don't think so, Todd. Dylan seems to be really feeling it today. He's got the support of the 20,000
19:17fans in the grandstand and you can tell he's here to entertain them.
19:21I try not to watch. I'm not a very good spectator.
19:26I tend to go the other way. I mean, there's the television up there. You don't know what I want.
19:32And for Dylan Fletcher and just one upwind leg, he goes from ninth place to sixth.
19:38Oh, second down with the big mistake by the current LGP champion, Spain.
19:43Oh, look who's there to seize the opportunity. It's Dylan Fletcher. He overtakes the champion,
19:48Diego Bottin. Absolutely incredible. Emirates GBR have gone from ninth to third. Oh, the crowd goes crazy.
19:59And of course, Emirates GBR reached the three-bolt final here in Portsmouth.
20:04After a sensational start to the season, racking up three podiums and three events, they are now back.
20:10Oh, it's an outstanding performance. Emirates GBR have won the fleet racing.
20:15But unfortunately for the home fans, it's the Kiwis who crossed the finish line first.
20:20Dylan Fletcher will have to settle for a close second place.
20:26A bit of a difficult race and I guess Kiwis got lucky at the end of the day.
20:30I don't think we're very lucky. Oh no, it doesn't seem Swiss.
20:38Say some interesting things at the end of the event.
20:41In my previous life as a sports person, as an individual, you ended up with inevitable rivalries
20:49against your chief opposition and you had to show that you were never going to back down.
20:56As soon as somebody, a competitor, knows that you're back down to them, then the race is lost.
21:03It's a psychological race. That's tough because there's a balance there between being really hard
21:12but also, you know, when you're off the water. It's a very different environment. It was almost
21:18like a Jekyll and Hyde mentality. Yeah? I think now it's just the competitive side is in sailing.
21:28I think that, um, very aware of when to be competitive, manage that, you know. I think that's
21:35part of growing up and you don't always need to... You go and play a game of pool with your mates,
21:41you don't have to win. It doesn't really... It doesn't matter.
21:49I guess when I think about champions across sport, they've kind of got two things. And one is the
21:58confidence that they know that they can go out there and win. And the other is being humble enough
22:04to know that you're not there for long, that you have to keep chasing greatness and that you can be
22:10better tomorrow. And I think when you find that balance of confidence and humility, that's when
22:15you find a formula that can really help you succeed at a really high level. Dylan, he's matured a huge
22:24amount in the last two or three years that I've got to know him. He came in to sell GP on fire and
22:32hugely impressed everybody. In a way, what's pleasing for me with that is when I listen to the team,
22:38both on and off the water. He's obviously a key part of the leadership of the team. And that's,
22:45as a team leader, that's hugely pleasing and hugely motivating to see.
22:52It feels like it's been an awfully long road to get back here. And so to be sat here now,
22:57back driving the British team is quite surreal.
23:02I certainly hope that I can continue in SailGP for a number of years and win championships and
23:09effectively fulfill my own dreams along with the dreams of the rest of the team. And I guess that's
23:15really what I'm focused on.
23:29I know if you're not going to be a hero for a personal goal, but I think that's a
23:35big surprise to me.
23:38We'll see you guys again soon as we're on our own.
23:41Bye bye.
23:50Bye bye.
23:51Bye bye.
23:52Bye bye.
23:53Bye bye.
23:55Bye bye.
23:59You
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