Podcast: Inside Bermuda SailGP, Gitana 18 & Olympic choices

SailGP returns to Bermuda's Great Sound this weekend for the fifth event of season 6. For episode 18 of The Foil Podcast, Neil Cole, Andy Rice and Freddie Carr serve up everything you need to know before the F50s hit the water.

The fourth visit to the spiritual home of SailGP brings a fleet of 12 (no Black Foils until Halifax) onto a stretch of water Andy and Freddie reckon plays more like lake sailing than open-water racing – gear-changey, breeze coming over the land, and a serious advantage to anyone who logged hours there in the AC50 days.

Tom Slingsby is the obvious benchmark: he's topped the fleet-racing qualifying series every single time the league has rolled into Bermuda. The lads run over the contenders: a British side licking its wounds after Rio, an Australian squad riding the high of one of the fiercest race-day performances in the league’s history, a US team that simply refuses to let the wheels come off, and the defending Bermuda winners Spain.

Beyond the race weekend, Andy shares a revealing sit-down with Jimmy Spithill on his unwitting role in launching SailGP, an inside look at the radical new Ultim Gitana 18 with its three-axis foil control and U-shaped rudders, and what the Switch class might mean for Olympic sailing.

Plus there's Cole Tapper's Congressional Cup blazer, Freddie's first day back on a TP52 at the 52 Super Series, and a strong case against renting a moped in Bermuda.

This episode is sponsored by Saily, the eSIM built by the team behind NordVPN. Available across more than 200 destinations, with plans flexible enough for a weekend away or a full season chasing the SailGP circuit – no SIM swap, no roaming bill shock, no wandering foreign airports hunting for Wi-Fi. This week we're using Saily ourselves in Bermuda. Download Saily from the app store and use code FOIL15 at checkout for 15% off your first purchase. For more details go to saily.com/foil15.