Team Brady Overcome Early Challenges to Secure Podium Finish

Lake Como, Italy, Saturday 25 April: It was a demanding and eventful weekend for Team Brady, marked both by early setbacks and a determined fight back. After encountering boat stability issues during Thursday’s practice sessions, the team faced an uphill battle from the outset, qualifying in seventh place.  

In today’s race, Emma came under intense pressure in Final1, where close competition forced contact with a buoy during Emma’s session resulting in damage to the RaceBird’s hydrofoil. The incident left Sam facing a challenging start to Final 2.

Despite the setback, the team responded with determination and composure. During Final 2, Sam executed a strong recovery drive with a damaged RaceBird to secure a well-earned podium finish.

Team Brady remains in second place in the championship standings, closing the gap to the top, as they turn their focus to the next round in Dubrovnik on June 12-13.

Sam Coleman, Team Brady Pilot, said: “It’s been a crazy weekend and to finish in third place really feels like a win for us.

We had a few stability issues with the RaceBird during practice on Thursday which meant we only qualified in seventh. We were able to make a few adjustments and we were feeling quite positive after I secured first place in the second stage of the group races.

Unfortunately, the foil was damaged in Final 1, we thought that was our chance of a podium disappearing, but we went out for Final 2, and we gave it all we could. I’m really proud of the team for working so hard to put us in the position to capitalise on the and we’ve been able to take some good points away.”

Emma Kimiläinen, Team Brady Pilot, added: “What a result!We’ve been struggling all weekend, but this is E1 and it’s always a rollercoaster. The key takeaways this weekend were that there’s been closer racing than ever with our competitors. During my final race, I was squeezed and hit a smart mark, so it was super tough for Sam to bring it home with the damage.

This is the thing with Team Brady, every time we struggle, we just seem to bounce back even brighter and stronger than before. We are theteam of true comebacks, the harder it gets, the fiercer we get.”