After crashing out in the previous event, Tom Slingsby’s Australia SailGP Team completely dominated the opening day of the Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix. In perfect foiling conditions on Bermuda’s Great Sound, the Aussies secured two race wins and a third to firmly secure the top spot on the event leaderboard ahead of Canada and ROCKWOOL Denmark.
The drama started before the fleet took to the Great Sound with the official news that Taylor Canfield’s US SailGP Team would not be on the startline for racing this weekend after the teams’ dramatic capsize in yesterday’s official practice racing. Data provided by the United States F50 defined the cause of the capsize as ‘user error’ – wing trimmer Victor Diaz de Leon meant to flatten the wing but instead accidentally pressed a button that inverted it when he was positioned on the starboard side of the boat.
The newly appointed Race Stadium at Morgan’s Point provided fans with an up-close view of the spectacle the nine national teams put on due to Bermuda’s gusty winds – allowing teams to make bigger and bolder maneuvers. Slingsby and the Aussies were ready for vengeance from the very start of the day – managing to pull off perfect starts for all three races.
Another team to light up the startline was Diego Botin and the Spain SailGP Team, who rocketed into the third race of the day at an incredible speed of 73 km/h – providing the team with a huge advantage. After a head-to-head battle with Nicolai Sehested and the ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team – Los Gallos strategically secured a win to finish the first day of racing on a high note.
Phil Robertson’s Canada SailGP Team brought the heat as well – battling it out with the Aussies for the majority of racing. The Canadians were chasing down the Aussies for race one but managed to fall off the foils and drop behind Peter Burling’s ‘Black Foils’ until the very final course marker – slingshotting their way into second place and showing the teams they arrived in Bermuda ready to compete.
An unfamiliar sight was Burling and the New Zealand SailGP Team in the middle of the fleet – the Black Foils hold the highest number of event wins in Season 4 and sit on top of the leaderboard after a successful win at the last event on home waters in Christchurch.
The teams pulled off some aggressive moves to make up for the large amount of season penalty points docked onto the overall scores of Australia, Emirates Great Britain, and ROCKWOOL Denmark in Christchurch.
APEX Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix Day One Standings
28 Australia 23 Canada 22 ROCKWOOL Denmark 22 New Zealand 19 Spain 15 Emirates Great Britain 13 Germany 12 France 08 Switzerland 00 United States
