The final day of the Spain Sail Grand Prix began with a last-minute crew change for Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team after Strategist Hannah Mills OBE sustained a minor injury whilst preparing for racing to start.
Mills, the most successful female Olympic sailor of all time, rolled her ankle onboard the F50 an hour before racing started. No immediate medical treatment was needed but Emirates GBR Reserve Sailor Hannah Diamond raced in her place. Mills remained on the water on the Emirates GBR support boat for racing and was checked over by doctors once on-shore.
It was light winds again for the second day of the Spain Sail Grand Prix in Cadiz and to compensate crew size was reduced from six to four. Emirates GBR's Reserve Sailor Hannah Diamond jumped straight on to the grinding handles along with Luke Parkinson whilst Driver and CEO Sir Ben Ainslie was on the wheel and Iain Jensen as Wing Trimmer.
Speaking after the event, Sir Ben Ainslie said he was "thankful" Hannah Mills was OK.
"She rolled her ankle during the warm-up for the racing which looked pretty painful and it was obviously a real shame for the Team because she's so integral to our performance, particularly in these lighter, tricky airs.
"Hannah Diamond got straight on the boat and she did a brilliant job getting to grips with the boat handling and did a really nice job."
Discussing the racing, Ainslie said it was "really tricky conditions".
"It was a bit of a struggle this weekend but that's racing - you take the highs with the lows - and we will regroup and come back stronger for Dubai."
After the weekend racing the Season 4 Championship Leaderboard has Australia on top, followed by ROCKWOOL Denmark, United States, Spain and then Emirates GBR in fifth. SailGP returns to Dubai for its next event on 9 & 10 December.
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