Neil Hunter is tantalisingly close to making SailGP history.
But even if he does, he still won’t be the most famous sailor in his family, let alone from an island of just 4,000 people.
Hunter, who hails from the Isle of Arran in Scotland, is part of the Emirates Great Britain (GBR) team who sit second in the standings going into Saturday and Sunday’s racing in Cadiz.
If Hunter and his GBR crew mates accrue enough points over the weekend, they will book themselves a spot in this season’s Grand Final having ended the regular campaign in the top three.
If $2million (£1.4m) in prize money for the Grand Final winner isn’t enough enticement, victory at the season-ending event in Abu Dhabi would mark the first time the GBR team has won SailGP.
Who is the other famous face in Hunter’s family?
Yet after the trophy has been lifted, the champagne sprayed and the money deposited into the bank account, it is Hunter’s mother who would likely remain the more recognisable face in sailing should those scenarios become reality.
Sally Hunter was a member of the first all-women crew on Maiden during the 1989/90 Whitbread Round the World Race.
The Maiden team was the first all-female crew to sail around the world, with Sally the only Scot amongst them.
To sailing enthusiasts and proud Scots, Sally is a trailblazer who helped change the world.
To Hunter, at least when growing up, Sally was the woman who helped get him ready for school in the morning and showed him the ropes of sailing.
But the release of a documentary on the Maiden team in 2018 gave Hunter an insight into the remarkable accomplishment his mum was a part of.
“I remember teachers at my school talking to me and saying, ‘Oh my god, I didn’t realise your mum was a part of the Maiden team,’” Hunter told talkSPORT.com.
“And I was like, ‘Yeah, so what?’ It was normal.
“I remember a few years ago when they brought the new Maiden documentary out, the whole Maiden crew was flown to New York for the premiere. It was like, ‘Oh my god, this is actually a massive deal.’
“She was basically a celebrity. She was definitely more of a sailing celebrity than I am, that’s for sure. That’s what all my mates say, anyway.
“I’m the second-most famous sailor from the Isle of Arran.”
Inside Hunter’s upbringing on the Isle of Arran
Hunter’s immense pride in where he grew up, even if Arran is rather remote, is plainly evident, especially when it comes to the freedom he and his brother Rory enjoyed.
As youngsters, the Hunter brothers not only sailed together but enjoyed long hikes and bike rides across the jaw-dropping landscape of the Arran mountain ranges.
“We’d go out and basically spend six or seven hours in the hills on our bikes or hiking,” Hunter said.
“Those were some pretty fun times.”
The love of cycling is something that hasn’t left the senior Hunter brother either, even if his heart belongs to the water.
After the GBR team won a weather-shortened event in St Tropez, Hunter and Matt Gotrel, who won an Olympic gold medal in rowing for Great Britain but now races for the Switzerland SailGP team, decided they would cycle to the next event on the calendar in Geneva.
The pair set off at 7am on Sunday and arrived in Geneva three days and 550km later.
“We had the perfect amount of time we could do that, recover and then do the following weekend in Geneva,” Hunter said.
“It worked out quite well and it was such a cool experience, it was unreal.
“Doing all those climbs, all the writing from the Tour de France guys and the fans, all those epic descents through ski towns that you see on TV during the summer, it was a cool adventure.”
How do Emirates GBR stack up against their rivals?
Unfortunately for Hunter, his services weren’t required by GBR in Geneva as light winds prompted them to sail with reduced crew numbers.
It meant Hunter had to watch through his fingers on the team’s chase boat, an experience which was ‘absolutely awful’ and ‘excruciating’ knowing he wasn’t able to help.
Dylan Fletcher’s team ultimately finished fourth in Geneva as Germany went on to record their first win of the season.
Ahead of Cadiz, GBR sits second in the championship standings with 75 points, only five ahead of fourth-placed Spain.
SailGP Championship standings
1st: Bonds Flying Roos (76 pts)
2nd: Emirates GBR (75 pts)
3rd: Black Foils (73 pts)
4th: Los Gallos (70 pts)
5th: France (56 pts)
6th: Northstar (47 pts)
7th: Switzerland (38 pts)
8th: Rockwool Racing (31 pts)
9th: Germany by Deutsche Bank (23 pts)
10th: Red Bull Italy (22 pts)
11th: Mubadala Brazil (14 pts)
12th: United States (-7 pts)
Given how close the race for a spot at the grand final is coupled with the fact GBR has made the season-ending event only once, there’s plenty riding on this weekend’s racing in Cadiz.
It’s why Hunter, who was a member of the first GBR team as a wide-eyed 24-year-old in 2019, refuses to look beyond the action in Spain.
“It’s just a normal event for us,” Hunter said.
“We’re treating it as if it’s any other event and we’ll be going through the same processes that we normally do.
“Nothing is a given in this sport, especially in SailGP, as there’s a lot of jeopardy involved.
“That’s kind of a massive factor. Anything can happen, so we’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing these last events and that should put us in good stead to make the grand final.”
