FILE PHOTO: Ben Ainslie, driver of Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, and Hannah Mills, strategist of Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, run across the F50 catamaran on Race Day 2 of the France Sail Grand Prix in Saint-Tropez, France, September 10, 2023. Felix Diemer for SailGP/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
(Reuters) - Ben Ainslie and Hannah Mills' Great Britain SailGP team won season four of the Impact League for their sustainable efforts, with last campaign's champions Denmark runners-up and Switzerland in third place.
The Impact League, which tracks how SailGP teams reduce their carbon footprint, was judged on four new areas: climate action, accelerating inclusion, race to zero waste and breaking boundaries.
The Impact League runs alongside the SailGP Season Championship.
"What sealed the deal for Great Britain was securing first place in the fourth and final round of the League's focus areas – Breaking Boundaries – the opportunity to increase gender equity on board the F50 in line with SailGP's Women's Pathway Strategy," SailGP said in a statement on Friday.
Great Britain had come third in the Impact League last season, but won with 602 points this season.
SailGP said the competition is overseen and judged independently by the likes of climate leader Rachel Kyte and three-times W Series Champion Jamie Chadwick.
"The whole team has worked extremely hard to not only make positive changes ourselves, but also inspire others to take climate action too," Great Britain strategist Mills said.
"Across the season we've achieved some amazing things with our Purpose Partners, the 1851 Trust's climate education programme Protect Our Future and Low Carbon, from educating 1,750 children at SailGP events on climate action to taking our team base off-grid with our renewable energy installation."
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
