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The Great British SailGP Team are out of the Australian Sail Grand Prix presented by KPMG, after a collision with the Japan SailGP Team in the final race of the opening day. As the team onboard the British F50 were focussing on closing down the gap to the American boat in the pre-start, they did not see the Japanese boat. That error resulted in a significant crash with both boats unable to continue racing, but thankfully no one was hurt.
Carnage Video HERE!!!
The day had started well for the British team in the opening race of the day. With the Great Britain SailGP Team racing neck and neck with Tom Slingsby's Australia SailGP Team throughout for the second place, behind Phil Robertson's Spanish team. It all came down to the final gate and leg where the British crew secured the advantage over the Australians and began chasing down the Spanish boat. In the end Robertson's Spanish crew snuck through just ahead of the British, with Ainslie's team finishing in second.
all images © Bob Martin, David Gray, Phil Hilyard, Brett Costello, Beau Outteridge /SAIL GP
The second race of the day was equally exciting, with a fight for the lead between Nathan Outteridge's Japan SailGP Team and, once again, the Spanish team. Despite a strong start, the British team paid the price for falling off the foils in an attempted 'JK' manoeuvre and eventually finished in fourth place.
The third race collision before the start resulted in the British team being docked 6 points for the event, and 2 points for the season. Due to the crash, the Japan SailGP Team is unable to compete in their F50 on day two, the Great Britain SailGP Team will be withdrawn from racing under the contact and damage policy rule. The British team have offered to provide Japan SailGP Team their F50 and any support they require to enable them to go racing tomorrow.
This results in the British team finishing in last place in Sydney.
Reflecting on the collision, Ainslie said: “We were coming back in the final moments of the start fighting for the top of line in a defensive mode against the Americans. We just didn’t see them at all (Japan SailGP Team) which was devastating for both teams.
“Everyone was ok which is the most important thing, but sadly it probably means the end of our season as we receive hefty penalty points for the damage caused. It will also impact Japan, which is not what we want, and as is only correct we are giving them our F50 and any support they need to hopefully get them back out racing tomorrow.
“The first two races were great to be involved in, it’s super tight racing out there and all the teams were pushing super hard, so this was hugely frustrating for everyone, but that’s sport and we will dust ourselves off and go again in San Francisco.”
Action will resume in the second day of the Australia Sail Grand Prix at 5AM GMT on Saturday 18th December. All the racing is live on Sky Sports and for free on YouTube in the UK.
Denmark SailGP Team ended Friday’s Race Day 1 at the Australia Sail Grand Prix within touching distance of the overall podium, following a day of drama and incident in Sydney Harbour.
The Danes – led by Nicolai Sehested – sit in fourth spot in the overall rankings after the first day, following a consistent performance which saw them secure two fourth and a fifth placed finishes in tricky conditions.
“It was a fine first day in Sydney, not fantastic, but we are staying in touch with the podium spots,” said Sehested.
“We’ve shown that we have a pretty high bottom level, which is important. We didn’t actually sail that well today, but we are still pushing hard and in with a chance.”
He added: “One thing we’ve learned in SailGP is that you don’t win these regattas on day one, but you can definitely lose them. So we’re happy that we kept it pretty safe and sailed well today.”
Looking strong
In lighter conditions, the F50 put on a real spectacle in Sydney Harbour with tight racing and all teams sailing on the edge to squeeze and advantage in a highly competitive fleet.
“I think it shows just how tough SailGP is,” continued Sehested. “You can have a decent day and still finish in last place – and the level is only getting harder.”
“We had some good boat-on-boat racing today, but we need to be better off the line. I’m not sure we executed our starting strategy too well today, so we need to look at that, but if we can be better off the line tomorrow, then we’re looking pretty strong.”
Denmark SailGP Team fought hard to bounce back from last place in Race 1 to claim fourth spot – and started Race 2 in better shape with a well-timed start, before ending in fifth.
The day was not without drama though, as two teams – Great Britain SailGP Team and Japan SailGP Team – both in the running for the podium spots at this event, and in the season rankings, collided at the start line ahead of Race 3, and had to pull out of racing.
That left the course open for the hosts Australia and United States to claim the final two podium places, as the Spanish won the day.
Bigger breeze incoming
Race Day 2 is predicted to be a different affair, with bigger breeze set to fill in across the race course, and Sehested is determined to put on a show to and grab the team’s first ever overall podium place.
“Our focus now is the heavy winds tomorrow. It’s no secret that we haven’t sailed a lot in those conditions, and we need to do a better job than we did in Cádiz. We really need to be one of the better teams tomorrow.”
He added: “It’s tricky, as we don’t get many training days in heavy winds. You saw that last event in Cádiz, where we arrived in Day 2 with a chance of the podium and got our asses kicked by the breeze. But we have done a lot of work since then – debriefing and looking at the data. Now we just need to go and put it into practice on the race course.”
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