Plymouth SailGP poster immortalised in beautiful glass artwork

19th July 2021

Local artist and owner of Plymouth Glass Gallery, Ian Nicholls, has recreated SailGP’s promotional poster for Plymouth as a stunning glass wall panel.

The artwork has been presented to the Great Britain SailGP team as a gift to commemorate the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix, taking place in Plymouth this weekend (17 and 18 July).

SailGP is one of the world’s most impressive sailing events and the Plymouth event is the third in the global league’s second season. The adrenaline-filled racing between eight competing nations promises high-speeds, high-tech and high drama.

Ian Nicholls said: “SailGP is a hugely exciting event and will be brilliant for Plymouth. As one of the many proud independent businesses based on the waterfront, we wanted to create something that showcased our support and welcomes the team and the event to the city and came up with the idea of producing the promotional poster in glass.”

The promotional poster is an illustration of the F50 catamaran’s sailing in Plymouth Sound against a backdrop of Plymouth Hoe including Smeaton’s Tower, which has been cleverly recreated as a glass wall panel.

Ian continued: “The biggest challenge was creating a 3D effect, as I wanted the catamaran to feel like it’s coming out of the panel at you, which I think I’ve achieved here. Glass is such a beautiful medium and often seems alive thanks to the way the light reflects on it and appears to change the colours or depth. I hope this creation shows our appreciation for this fantastic event.”

Great Britain SailGP Team interim driver and Olympic Gold medalist Paul Goodison added: “We can’t wait to be back competing on home waters in Plymouth. I have a few memories of competing in Plymouth and the local support has always been fantastic, so it’s great to see that local enthusiasm come to life in this brilliant piece of art by Ian. He’s really captured the essence of SailGP in this piece and we hope to give Ian, and all the local fans, something to cheer this weekend!”

Plymouth Glass Gallery is based on Southside Street on the Barbican and sells a range of contemporary glass from a number of leading artists as well as artwork created by Ian in his on-site gallery. He can also create bespoke commissions to fit different size and colour requirements. Find out more at plymouthglassgallery.com.

For more information about SailGP, please visit visitplymouth.co.uk/sailgp.