Andy Rice

Andy Rice

—Senior Contributor

Andy did his first interview while he was campaigning a 470 dinghy on the Olympic circuit. It was a windless ‘no sailing’ day at Hyeres Olympic Regatta in 1990, just a few months after the Berlin Wall came down, with East German sailing star and multiple gold medallist Jochen Schumann. He has been writing about sailing ever since. Andy still races actively today in the one-man Musto Skiff fleet, although the day job is very much writing and live commentating across a range of events around the world. As well as working at the past five Olympic Games, going back to Beijing 2008, Andy has reported at the America’s Cup, The Ocean Race, the Vendée Globe among many other grand prix regattas. Since the start of 2025 he has been writing for The Athletic/New York Times, reporting on the SailGP circuit. At the less glamorous end of the sport Andy also maintains active links with the grass roots dinghy scene as the organiser of the Selden Sailjuice Winter Series, for all those mad dogs and nutters that still want to go racing in the coldest, darkest months of the Great British winter.

RP1_0127-7

Why refereeing SailGP is just getting harder

Chief umpire Craig Mitchell and his team of online adjudicators have been busier than usual this season of SailGP, partly because there are now 13 teams competing on what are often very congested race courses. “We’ve been looking...

ETF26SERIES_LEG3_FOILINGWEEK_DAY-4_QAPTUR_BDC-65

Andy Rice: Learning to fly at Foiling Week

They thought it was funny when they put me on the front of an ETF26 foiling catamaran and left me to work out what the hell I was meant to do next. I had just jumped off the rib driven by reserve sailor Justin Busuttil to take...

kieler-woche-2026-sk205127-49er-sascha-klahn

Soft breeze, hard format equals tough Kiel Week

While Kieler Woche, aka Kiel Week, is still going until the weekend with the participation of the Corinthian classes, the Olympic half of this massive regatta in north Germany is done. In its 140 year history, the 2026 edition...

SV3_3959 Samo Vidic for SailGP

Andy Rice rates the fleet after Canada SailGP

Finished: 1st It might have been a very different position in the rankings for Spain if Diego Botín had failed to thread the needle. Los Gallos’ move at the start of Race 3 in Group A was the ‘move of the season’. With six events...

ML3_7515

Rate the fleet: Andy Rice's verdict on SailGP New York

Finished: 1stOf Australia’s three back-to-back victories, the win in New York was by far the messiest and most surprising. For surviving the technical curveballs thrown their way both on Saturday and before the start on Sunday,...

PHOTO-2026-05-29-20-10-23

New York: A whole season in one weekend?

Here we are in New York City, so why was the name of another city – Auckland – on the lips of all the sailors I interviewed this morning? Because Saturday is looking like it’s going to be windy, with the potential for heinous...

BM201079

What 2027 calendar tells us about SailGP’s future

It is impressive to see how early SailGP is starting to announce its annual calendar. Pulling the venues together and creating a cohesive global roadshow is no mean feat.  For me, travelling to all the events throughout the...

BM209704

Ranking the Fleet: Ricey's verdicts on SailGP Bermuda

Finished: 1st Even if the Bonds Flying Roos couldn’t quite match that perfect Sunday in Rio - their dominant performance throughout the Bermuda weekend was outstanding. When Hollywood star and co-owner of the team Ryan Reynolds...

Ben Proffitt

Waterspeed: using data for more speed, more fun, and more community

In the high-stakes world of grand prix racing, from the 50-knot flying machines of SailGP and the America’s Cup, data has become one of the key drivers of performance. The modern professional operates in an era where there is...

SB2_2027

No Auckland return for SailGP in 2027

There will be no Auckland event on the 2027 SailGP calendar after the New Zealand government declined to contribute sufficient funding to make it happen. “We can confirm that the New Zealand Sail Grand Prix in Auckland will not...

Hypersail model

Ferrari Hypersail unveiled in Milan (and it’s not red)

Has there been a more ambitious project than Ferrari Hypersail? Quite possibly, because even I wasn’t around long enough ago to witness the launch of those magnificent J-Class yachts of their day. But that was then and this is...

JL105140

Referee! The devil in the detail between French and Aussie penalties

At the SailGP Grand Prix in Rio there were some late chargers making a late but very fast run into the start box, hoping for a gap to appear in front of them. Sometimes this late charge paid off big time, like the Bonds Flying...

JL103240

How the Flying Roos swept the minefield of Guanabara Bay

If you had told Tom Slingsby on Sunday morning that the Bonds Flying Roos would sweep every single race on the final day in Rio de Janeiro, he’d have laughed you off the beach. The Guanabara Bay conditions were a minefield. A...

RP3_7655

Rio SailGP practice day leaves backmarkers still searching for clues

Practice racing on Guanabara Bay delivered a familiar picture at the front of the SailGP fleet - and offered little comfort to those looking to raise their game after a slow start to the season. The fleets were divided into two...

Sailing Energy Series

Dash for (not very much) Cash

It was only €100, but Philipp Buhl looked delighted to grab the cash all the same. He’d just finished first in an experimental race, the start of a new project called the Sailing Energy Series, and it involved eight of the...

Musto logo Waterspeed logo