SailGP: Factory then World Tour
I worked at the SailGP factory in Southampton, England for 6 months. I knew going in that it wasn’t my field of interest and that the job didn’t push my strengths. Instead, it tested my weaknesses. What I gained from this job that is core to my future as a designer is precision. It’s visible that my undergraduate architecture projects had good ideas, but the presentation lacked quality. I have always spent too much time ideating, and too little time creating. After my experience with the millimetre precision of these SailGP and America’s Cup boats, I feel balanced now between ideating and creating.
The second stage of my SailGP adventure has been the world tour. I worked the LA and SF races this year, traveling with the circus, setting up the races and packing them away again. To see the design details of these yachts was amazing. The boats are mainly built for speed, but they are also designed to be assembled, repaired, and disassembled, too. I was part of the ‘Boatbuilding Department,’ our crew of 15 people liased with the teams and got the boats “visually and structurally ready to race.” If I do not find work otherwise, I hope to join along with the circus for the rest of the season. Plus, between the hotel and the glamour, it’s a hell of a good time.
