Rockwool Denmark SailGP in Aarhus: Furious Ainslie comeback: With over 50 knots into the future

Sir Ben Ainslie is back on the international regatta stage. Following the birth of his son Fox in mid-July, the 44-year-old four-time Olympic champion returned to training for the Rockwool Denmark SailGP off Aarhus with an impressive record. In the training area on the doorstep of the Aarhus Sailing Center, which the SailGP organisers around founder Sir Russell Coutts have rented out completely for this weekend and dressed in their colours, the Brits found ideal conditions for their speed rush on Wednesday. Their foiling F50 catamaran reached 53.1 knots - 98.3 kilometres per hour! "It's only a matter of time before we break 100 kilometres per hour," predicted Ainslie, whose team will be battling against seven other highly prominent teams for victory in Denmark and valuable points for the season standings from Friday at the fourth SailGP of the current season. After a total of nine regattas at the end of March 2022, the winner takes it all - the victorious team collects one million US dollars!

The "Who's Who" of the international sailing world will be in Aarhus

Ainslie doesn't see himself as a favourite: "We're lagging behind in terms of training time. I didn't take part in two of the three SailGPs this season." Compatriot Paul Goodison, 2008 Laser Olympic champion, had represented Ainslie well as a newcomer after his opening victory with sixth and fourth places in Italy and England. After three regattas of the second SailGP season, the Brits are level on points with the Australian frontrunners led by skipper and Olympic champion Tom Slingsby in second place. When asked who he sees as the favourite for the SailGP summit in Denmark, "Goat" (short for "Greatest of all times") Ainslie said in Aarhus: "Tom Slingsby is certainly a candidate. The current ranking suggests it. And Tom is very good at playing down his ability."

The two-time New Zealand America's Cup winners Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are also back in the game. The Kiwis narrowly missed out on their second Olympic victory after 2016 at the Olympic regatta in Tokyo, tied on points with the British gold medallists Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell, and had to be satisfied with silver, but weren't really. Highly motivated, they are now starting again in the SailGP.

The "Who's Who" of the international sailing elite has gathered in Aarhus for the showdown. Also taking part is seven-time America's Cup participant and two-time winner Jimmy Spithill, 42, who leads the American SailGP team. The famously furious attacker said on Thursday morning in Aarhus: "America's Olympic sailors were not quite so successful in Japan. We want to step into the breach and help lead America's sailors back to the top."

The field will be completed by five other teams in the Bay of Aarhus: the local heroes around skipper Nicolai Sehested, which also includes Danish Laser Radial Olympic champion Anne-Marie Rindom and 49erFX sailor Katja Salskov-Iversen, want to shine in front of their home crowd and improve their seventh place in the season rankings. The Spanish team with skipper Phil Robertson, to which the Iberian Olympic sailors have just returned, wants to attack from sixth place. Nathan Outteridge, 2012 Olympic champion in the 49er, also has more in mind with the Japanese team than the current fifth place in the rankings. The French team led by skipper Billy Besson have recently made conspicuous progress and are still ahead of Jimmy Spithill's US team in third place after the three SailGP regattas so far.

With the competitive philosophy of Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna

The stage was set on Thursday for the fourth regatta of the season. In the fantastically beautiful Danish sailing area, where the 2018 World Championships in all Olympic disciplines had already thrilled the crowds, the Formula 1 sailing pilots and their crews will get down to business for two days. The Austrian television channel Servus TV will broadcast the races on Friday from 3 pm and on Saturday from 1 pm. The final is already on the programme on Saturday afternoon. After a new speed record and several close training duels, thrilling scenes and close duels can be expected in the balancing act between fun and danger. "None of us are here because we didn't push ourselves," says Slingsby, explaining the demands that all the starters have.

According to Slingsby, car racing driver Ayrton Senna once said: "If you stop looking for the gap, you can no longer be a winner. Phil Robertson, match race world champion and known for virtuoso to aggressive starts, had collected the first black flag at the British SailGP in July with his Spanish team and thus the first direct disqualification in SailGP history because his team had jeopardised the US team with a manoeuvre that was too risky in the eyes of the umpires. Will he hold back more because of this? "We're here because we want to win races. Just like any other team. We will keep pushing." Click here for the SailGP homepage, all information about the SailGP in Aarhus and the results (please click!).