WASZP FOILING

WASZP FOILING IN CHICAGO

BY GRACE RENZ

The SailGP Inspire program invited 8 girls and 8 boys to learn and compete in Chicago on WASZP foiling boats this summer. The 16 sailors were chosen by resume and were between 14-20 years old. Many of the sailors were from Canada and Hawaii. There were also sailors from Maryland, Virginia and Illinois - with 1 - 5 years experience on foiling boats. This was my first time in a WASZP.

My name is Grace Renz. I’ve been sailing at Chicago Yacht Club for seven years - mostly in Optis and now the ILCA Class.

After five days of learning to foil with SailGP, I realized all of the different types of boats and how kids from across the country have the opportunity to sail so many different boats like Open Bics, Moths, 29ers, 49ers, WASZPs, Moths, Lasers, Optis, 420s and more. Part of the SailGP Inspire experience was going to the tech village and meeting SailGP sailors and CEOs. We got to learn about their experiences and how they made it to where they are currently. One morning all the girls came to practice early and we went to a breakfast with a female sailor, Nina, from SailGP Australia. She spoke to us about competing as a female and what she had to go through to get to the top. We had the chance to go on the Australian Boat with the team and sit in the ‘drivers seat’ but there is actually no seat so you can see everything when racing. Meeting all the female athletes was inspiring as a young female who wants to continue to sail throughout her life and succeed.

It was also very interesting to see the ways that the SailGP teams work together to make the materials better for the environment. We had a brainstorm together on ways to make sailing materials more sustainable from ropes to sails, to alternative plastics. When we were in the brainstorm, some of the Australia team members showed up on their pink scooters. They didn’t use Ubers or cars when they were in Chicago for SailGP.

Since last week, I’ve gone out to practice in the Skeeta with a few of my Chicago Yacht Club team mates. The Skeeta is different than the WASZP and not used much in racing but it has been fun to practice what I’ve learned, and help others learn to foil. I hope that we will have the chance to foil more at Chicago Yacht Club and compete on WASZPs and other foiling boats on the national level.

Thank you to the athletes, teams, volunteers and professionals with SailGP, Chicago Yacht Club, Rooster and WASZP for bringing more foiling to Chicago. ✶