SailGP Auckland: Kiwi Brad Farrand joins Jimmy Spithill’s Red Bull Italy team

Brad Farrand has taken his opportunity.

Last year, the Kiwi sailor got a call proposing he make the trip to Dubai ahead of the opening SailGP event for the season to trial for a team.

It came with the league easing its nationality restrictions for the new campaign, which has seen several sailors move around the league or be recruited by nations other than their own.

For Farrand, the pitch came from Australian yachtsman Jimmy Spithill, the chief executive of the Red Bull Italy team, who were new to the fleet for season five.

“It was pretty laid back, to be honest,” Farrand told the Herald. “I had a call with Jimmy, a couple of calls actually, and the pitch was, basically, just come down, hang out, give it a go, and obviously you jump at the opportunity to sail these boats. I’d never sailed them before.

“I wasn’t in my peak fitness for a grinding role – I’m getting there. I went down to Dubai and it seemed to go all right.

“He just basically called and said, ‘Hey, give it a go.’ So I got down there, gave it a go and he said, ‘All right, we’ll see you in New Zealand.’”

Farrand makes his SailGP debut this weekend as one of the grinders for the Italian team, listed in the G1 position, facing the back of the boat.

A long-time sailor whose career has seen him competing in such competitions as the Ocean Race – part of the Team AzkoNobel crew who won the leg into Auckland in 2018 – and most recently competing on the RC44 monohull.

Brad Farrand has joined the Red Bull Italy SailGP Team. Photo / Samo Vidic / Red Bull Content Pool

Stepping on to a 50-foot (15m) foiling catamaran is a different setting for him, but there was a sense of familiarity to it all.

“My job, physically, that was fine. Getting around the boat seems easy enough. I’ve watched these races for the last four seasons so I know the roles pretty well. Sailing’s sailing, you get the hang of it.”

As for his Italian?

“It used to be really good on Duolingo when I was almost living there for a couple of years, but I went to my Duolingo level that I was at ... it was terrible, but I’ll get there.”

He is one of two Kiwis to join the SailGP fleet in Auckland, with Olympic rowing gold medallist and America’s Cup winner Joseph Sullivan brought into the grinding ranks of the Swiss team. Sullivan will be with the team only for the Auckland regatta, with Arno De Planta missing this stage of the circuit.

Having watched the league over the past four seasons, Farrand said it was interesting to see how the league had grown so much it had established itself as one of the top competitions in the sport.

Brad Farrand and Blair Tuke speak after an early-morning arrival in Auckland during the Ocean Race in 2018. Photo / Photosport

“The America’s Cup and the Volvo [Ocean Race] used to be the big two circuits that would always go. Now, the America’s Cup is kind of how it used to be, but there’s not as many sailors on board so that’s kind of not really relevant to a lot of sailors any more,” Farrand explained.

“You’ve got the guys at the very top, but there’s only four of them on board. There’s a big group of sailors below that, a league like this just gobbles them all up. There’s something like 100 sailors here who are all at the top of their game, and having that consistency of knowing exactly where you’re going for the next year is good for life planning, and obviously the prize money is pretty impressive.

“It was last year but they’ve doubled it this year – that’s a little way off for our team because we’re new, but it’s just impressive to see where the circuit going and how it’s got this momentum.

“It’s interesting to see and I think it’s the future.”

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.