SailGP’s fourth visit to New York got off to a bad start on Friday when the F50 fleet could not be launched due to the British QE2 cruise liner arriving in the port and blocking the SailGP craning area. Things went from bad to worse on Saturday morning when strong winds meant that only the top four teams in the season standings – Australia, Great Britain, Spain, and USA – could be craned in ahead of the racing window.
In the end, though, it was just the Spanish and the British who contested the first two races – after technical issues aboard the American boat and a nasty nosedive by the Australians during the warm-up session put them both out of action. Dylan Fletcher’s British team won the first race, with Diego Botín’s Los Gallos taking the second and third races. Taylor Canfield’s US crew made it out for the last race, but could only finish third. Not of this ultimately mattered, though, as the call was later made that Saturday’s racing would not count towards the New York event.
Sunday saw the majority of the fleet out on the Hudson for three fleet races sailed in puffy unstable conditions to decide who made it into the three-boat winner-take-all event final. There was bad news for the Spanish – third placed in the overall standings prior to the New York event – after persistent hydraulic issues aboard their F50 could not be rectified. Under the SailGP regulations, no redress is given for such breakdowns.
The British came out strong to take a comfortable victory in the opening race of the day. After winning the start, the Brits led at the first turning mark and went on to round the leeward gate well clear of the melee behind them. From there they extended on every leg to take the win. Taylor Canfield’s home town heroes on the American F50 took second, ahead of Nathan Outteridge’s Swedish Artemis in third. Meanwhile the BONDS Flying Roos put themselves under pressure with a ninth place finish.
Race two saw the US crew storm off the leeward end of the line to take control of the race by the first leeward gate and go on to a comprehensive victory. Behind them the Australians fought their way back from a shaky start to somehow claim second, ahead of Phil Robertson’s Red Bull Italy crew.
Prior to the start of the third race, the most likely event final contenders were the Americans, the British, and the Italians. However, a three-way crash just prior to the start gun saw Robertson’s Red Bull Italy, Martine Grael’s Mubadala Brazil, and Canfield’s United States crew all locked together. Finding himself early to the start line at the leeward end, Robertson had turned up to parallel the line, before being run into by the Americans and the Brazilians in quick succession. While the rules scenario will take some unpicking, following the incident the Americans were awarded seven penalty points, while the Italians received four penalty points, and the Brazilians received none.
Meanwhile, Giles Scott’s Canadian Northstar crew got away cleanest at the start and went on to take a race win that elevated them into the final, while Nicolai Sehested’s Danish ROCKWOOL Racing took second and Slingsby’s Australians finished third. That meant that joining Canada in the final were the BONDS Flying Roos and Emirates Team GBR.
The event final was dominated by a race-long nip-and-tuck match between the Australians and the British, which began at the first turning mark. The Roos led at the first leeward gate but gave up the lead on the first upwind leg when they failed to block the advance of the Brits coming up the beat on port. The tables were turned again on the second beat when the Australians squeaked around the right-hand windward mark ahead, but with the Brits right on their transom.
Fletcher’s crew were the first to gybe on to starboard as the two approached the course boundary, and it was the Brits then who gave it all they could for the rest of the leg to pull clear ahead enough to be able to gybe for the final turn marker.
When they did, their lead was marginal at best and their move was followed by the Australians gybing inside. A series of luffs and protest calls by the British yielded no response from the umpires and it was Slingsby who was able to pull clear ahead enough to put his bow down and cross the line ahead. The British had to settle for second, with the Canadians taking third.
The BONDS Flying Roos’ third consecutive event win this season sees them extend their lead at the top of the overall standings to 11 points. The British stay in second, with the Americans leapfrogging the Spanish into third place.
Next up on the SailGP calendar is the Canadian event in Halifax, Nova Scotia over the weekend of June 20–21. But how many boats will we see on the start line? Peter Burling’s New Zealand Black Foils crew are targeting this event to make a return to the circuit in a new boat after their crash with the French in Sydney at the end of February. But it now seems unlikely that the Italian boat will be ready to race by then – unless a starboard hull can be substituted in from another team. The Americans perhaps?
