Rachael Betschart claims historic victory in San Francisco
Rachael Betschart has sailed her way into the history books after becoming the first Bermudian to be crowned Waszp Grand Final winner at the SailGP Inspire Champion of Champions in San Francisco, California.
The 18-year-old beat some of the world’s top young sailors on the way to securing victory in her second appearance in the prestigious event held alongside the main SailGP Grand Final.
“It's a bit surreal, but it feels really amazing,” an elated Betschart told The Royal Gazette.
The former Warwick Academy student improved on her finishing position of second on her debut in the Grand Final last year.
“Obviously last year I just came up short and I was a bit upset about it,” Betschart added.
“But it pushed me to do another qualifying event and get to the finals with the ambition to win.”
The aspiring professional sailor qualified for the Grand Final after finishing as the top female and fifth overall in the SailGP Waszp Inspire Racing Series held alongside the SailGP Season 4 opener in Chicago in June 2023.
Betschart did not compete in the Bermuda Sail Grand Prix in May and was in a frantic race against the clock to get herself up to par just weeks before the Grand Final in San Francisco after not competing in the one-design foiling Waszp dinghy in several months.
“It was a challenge as I took nine months off of sailing because I was doing a gap year on a tall ship,” Betschart said.
“So it was down to the last five weeks before the event to get back into shape, train and try to just push myself to the limit.
“The thought going into it was always to go for the win, but I knew it was going to be a challenge just because of the circumstances.
"Getting back into it was difficult and the competition here was quite difficult as well. There's a lot of really good sailors out there.“
As part of her reward for her success, Betschart has earned the opportunity to sail on the rebranded F50 foiling catamaran, originally designed for and raced at the 35th America’s Cup held in Bermuda in 2017, and take part in a SailGP event with one of the teams next season.
“That's the big shiny prize for me, the F50,” she said. “That is definitely going to be amazing and I am really excited for that.”
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