From Hollywood to the high seas: Ryan Reynolds experiences high-octane sail with Olympic star

Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds jauntily accepted an offer from Australia's Flying Roos SailGP team for "a casual sail around Bermuda".

"We may have oversold the casual part," deadpanned the caption posted on Friday (8 May) on the social media account of the current leaders of the high-tech sailing series, which now features a video of the shell-shocked actor.

A mic-ed up Reynolds took part in a practice session ahead of the weekend's racing, capturing his expletive-strewn comments in the high-octane series likened to Formula One on water.

Thirteen nations compete in the same style boat, an F50 catamaran, which reaches speeds of up to 100 km/h (60mph) while raised out of the water on foils, providing an other-worldly spectacle of boats appearing to fly above the water.

The boats, which have netting spanning twin hulls requiring sailors to dash across the webbing during sharp turns, often within metres of competitors doing the same thing, are as far from the comfort of a "casual" sail as can be imagined.

Spectator-friendly courses bring the action close to shore in glamorous locales such as Sydney, Rio, and Valencia, with the Flying Roos leading the 2026 series after five of 13 races thus far.

A co-owner of the Aussie entry alongside fellow thespian Hugh Jackman, Reynolds is also renowned in the sporting world for his foray into football as co-owner of Welsh club, Wrexham A.F.C., from which a popular docuseries has emerged.

But it is his acting career for which he is most renowned, particularly his role as anti-hero Wade Wilson in Deadpool, famed for sarcastic quips and catchphrases that have caught on, especially in the sporting world.

So presumably, Reynolds was okay with a little light ribbing from the Aussie sailing team, driven by London 2012 Olympic champion Tom Slingsby, about being duped into the "casual sailing" offer?

Perhaps.

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Ryan Reynolds' maximum effort in SailGP practice race

"Follow me," shouted skip Slingsby as the boat turned, fellow crew members pelting across the other side of the boat in the practice race, scampering across the netting with the ease earned via a lifetime on the water.

The lumbering Reynolds, meanwhile, tried to remain upright as the boat pitched and yawed, twisted and bounced, no doubt receiving a few bruises for his effort as he finally made it to the other side.

"I'm a turtle," said Reynolds, midway across with his sloth-like movement, while his teammates were already adjusting the sails for optimum performance.

With no time to settle, Slingsby was no doubt grinning under his helmet as he said to Reynolds: "This is a fun one. Get low, there'll be a bit of G-force on this."

"Woooooo, haaaaaa," exulted Reynolds as the boat whipped almost 90 degrees, emitting unexpected stresses on the body to the jaunty sail he had been expecting.

"My god that was unbelievable," said Reynolds. "Unreal. That was one of the most insane experiences I've had in my entire life."

Befuddled, bamboozled and covered with a twist of sea spray, Reynolds looked pleased for the experience to be over and ready to sit dockside watching the plethora of Olympic stars in action in the series, which also includes Olympic gold medallists Dylan Fletcher and Hannah Mills (GBR), Diego Botin and Florian Trittel (Spain), and Peter Burling (New Zealand).

"We're about to do a race now," said Slingsby instead.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me, no."

Vying against boats from Spain, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland, the commentator couldn't help but take the opportunity to use a catchphrase from Deadpool to describe the Aussie team giving "maximum effort" – a term now used by fans for trying absurdly hard while not taking it seriously – as they approached the first mark at speeds of up to 85 km/h.

At one point, Sweden scythed through the water toward the green and gold livery of Australia's boat, coming within metres of one Hollywood actor who was no doubt wondering how he'd got there.

During the race proper, Australia came away with a third event title of the campaign to keep them ahead of defending champions Spain, with the crews then leaving the archipelago to head toward the next race weekend in New York from 30-31 May.

"I'm in full body shock," said Reynolds afterwards. "That was crazy. The world needs to know more about this."

Nevertheless Reynolds, who reached a top speed of 92.29 km/h during his experience, will likely remain undefeated in SailGP; presumably, he'll not be taking to the high seas again any time soon.

It's just common sense.

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