SailGP wrap up from 3 days in Bermuda

May 5, 2024 – Diego Botin’s Spain gets one step closer to the $2 million Season 4 Grand Final after securing a win in Bermuda

Diego Botin’s Los Gallos got the better of two of the leagues heavyweights – Australia and New Zealand – in a tense three-boat final at the Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix to win its second SailGP event of Season 4. But it was not just the win the team was celebrating, it was also the fact it had extended its lead on fourth placed ROCKWOOL Denmark and fifth placed France to get one step closer to securing a spot in the all important three-boat, $2 million Season 4 Grand Final in San Francisco in July 13-14.

After an emotional rollercoaster to make the final – having to wait to see where Canada finished on the race course in the day’s second fleet race – the Spanish team had its work cut out. Going head to head with the two top teams in the league – taking on the skilled Peter Burling’s Black Foils and reigning champions Tom Slingsby and the Australia SailGP Team. The Spanish sailed a very strategic final race to secure first place – with the Black Foils in second and the Aussies in third – in front of a roaring crowd at the newly located Race Stadium at Morgan’s Point.

Botin said: “It feels like we are getting stronger and it’s just an amazing feeling. The fleet is super tight now and everyone is pushing. We also made an error on the last turning mark in the fifth fleet race – we didn’t know if we were making the final or not at the finish. We cannot sleep after this either because otherwise the best teams will just get better and better and we need to progress and stay focused.”

Robertson’s Canada team gave the fleet a run for its money this weekend – staying hot on the heels of first place – placing second in three of the fleet races. This all came to an end when the Canadians fell off the foils in the lead up to crossing the startline of fleet race five – making it to mark one at the very back of the fleet and not managing to make a comeback.

Robertson said: “It’s genuinely painful to be honest. We have been in the situation when the shoe is on the other foot and snuck in and it feels pretty good but copping it on the chin is a tough one.

“We had a solid first race and put in a really solid effort and in the second race we had a horrible start but we were in the mix coming into the top gate and let it slip away right at the end there by letting a few boats slip past us. We probably should have stayed in front of them so that’s our own fault and something we’ve got to learn from but it’s disappointing and we’re gutted.”

With the event win, Spain has managed to nearly close the gap between them and the Aussies – who sit in second place overall. The Black Foils remain on top and the team was bringing high speeds to the racing this weekend – clocking the fastest speeds out on the water.

Burling said: “It’s definitely been an interesting weekend for us – we made our life a little harder at times so it was nice to finish off with a couple of awesome starts and we are sailing the boat the best around the track, probably the best we ever have.”

Reflecting on second place, Burling said: “It kind of feels like a bit of consolation prize to beat the Aussies to extend our lead on the overall leaderboard – we are obviously coming to these events to win so it definitely hurts to not feel like we were good enough this weekend and we just let it slip and we’ll go back and learn from that.

The weekend had its fair share of drama – starting with a user error that caused a capsize onboard Taylor Canfield’s US SailGP Team before racing even started – taking them out of the competition this weekend due to significant damage to the wingsail. And it continued when Slingsby and the Australia crew came ashore and disclosed that they believed there were technical issues with the F50 during racing.

Slingsby said: “Yeah, look, I do think there’s some settings that were changed overnight somehow as we just didn’t feel like we had boat speed and there were a lot of weird things happening, which we didn’t have yesterday. So, we’ll have to get to the bottom of that, but I don’t want to take away from Spain’s win, and they nailed that last start, and they were the best team. So, congratulations to them.”

On whether the Aussies can regain the top spot on the leaderboard, Slingsby said: “On the plus side, we’re back in the racing, and we got a podium in our first event back [after crashing out of New Zealand) and we’re happy with all of that. But the Kiwis are a stronger team than us, and they deserve the top spot. We’ve got a lot of work to do to catch them and we need to embrace the challenge.”

• Australia SailGP Team – docked eight points in Season Championship for 12-point penalty at ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Christchurch
• Canada SailGP Team – docked four points in Season Championship for eight-point penalty at France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez
• Emirates Great Britain – docked four points in Season Championship for eight-point penalty at ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Christchurch
• Germany SailGP Team – docked two points in Season Championship for four-point penalty at Oracle Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix
• New Zealand SailGP Team unable to compete in Taranto due to the structural failure of the  team’s wingsail at France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez
• ROCKWOOL Denmark – docked four points in Season Championship for eight-point penalty at ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Christchurch
• Spain SailGP Team – docked two points in Season Championship for four-point penalty at Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía – Cádiz

May 4, 2024 – Aussie’s come out firing on opening day of Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix

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.

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 which inverted it when he was positioned on the starboard side of the boat.

Reflecting on missing out on racing Mike Buckley, US team CEO, said: “We knew right away what went wrong but we compete as a team and whatever the outcome is – whether it’s what we want – we win and lose as a team and we learn from it. It’s easy to point fingers at one mistake but very rarely in sports or business is it one thing that costs you that big thing. It’s usually a culmination of many things – so we’re trying to take some positives. We’re licking our wounds a little bit and we’ll be heading out and trying to get better for the next one.”

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 – giving teams the opportunity 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.

Slingsby said: “It felt like we were the Australia from previous seasons where we managed great starts and were hard to catch and we’re stoked. Everyone has their game plans but these are the best athletes in the world – only one person can get that spot and there’s 10 teams. We sailed really well, it was picture perfect conditions and we were just happy all day.”

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.

Botin said: “I think it’s the first start we have done to surge in front of everyone and remain in front of everyone and it feels really good. We read the fleet really well – they were fighting for the bottom end and we found the space and ripped it.”

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 coursemarker – slingshotting their way into second place and showing the teams they arrived in Bermuda ready to compete.

Robertson said: “If you’re not pushing hard, you’re not going to be winning, and we want to be winning. It’s all very close on the leaderboard, so we’ve got to go out tomorrow, get a good race one under our belt and then see what we need to do in race two.”

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.

Burling said: “We were trying a few things but obviously they didn’t quite go to plan. On the start with those high speed boards if you don’t get a good run at the end you go from being right in a good spot to being right at the back very quickly.

“We are here to try and win the event and will give it our all tomorrow. We were in touch with the front end of the leaderboard today, we got some solid results on the board and need to go out there tomorrow and finish the job.”

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.

Sehested approached the first two races with a conservative mindset but decided to ramp up the competition for the final race when he ran Slingsby off the course – who was only meters away – in order to be sure the Danes secured second place to finish the day.

Sehested said: “We started a bit slow but we were also a bit gun shy – to make sure we didn’t incur any penalty points and then we slowly added a few layers and pushed a bit harder and I think that was the right strategy for today.

“At the last coursemarker we knew the Aussies weren’t going to beat us so we just wanted to make sure we didn’t give them any room to gain on us so we wanted to kill them early and kill them hard – there was a big gap so we could be quite harsh on them.”

May 3, 2024 – All to play for as ten national teams take to the Great Sound for the Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix

SailGP takes flight on the crystal clear waters of Bermuda’s Great Sound for the Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix this weekend May 4-5. This marks the tenth stop of the global sporting league’s Season 4 calendar and the third time SailGP has partnered with Bermuda Tourism Authority to bring the action to the island. High-impact and adrenaline-fuelled racing is set to take place in perfect racing conditions with all teams determined for a win in the pursuit of a place in the $2 million Championship Final Race in San Francisco in July.

The drama that plagued the fleet in Christchurch showed no signs of stopping when Taylor Canfield’s USA team capsized during official practice racing. Just 24 hours before the opening day of racing in Bermuda, the US team capsized in the third practice race of the day, en-route to the first rounding mark. No serious injuries were sustained by any of the athletes but it could be a long night for the SailGP Tech Team – and an anxious wait for the team – as the wingsail suffered significant damage during the impact.

Going into the weekend confidence is high for Peter Burling and the ‘Black Foils’ as his team stole the show following victory in front of a record home crowd at the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix in Christchurch in March. It marked New Zealand’s fourth win of Season 4 – the most by any team this season – and the team will be looking to keep hold of top place at the end of the weekend.

Reigning SailGP champions – Tom Slingsby and the Australia SailGP Team – were one of the teams that experienced a tough time in New Zealand. The Aussie’s collided with a course marker, causing significant damage to their F50 which ruled them out of the remainder of the event.

Australia was hit with an eight point season penalty that has had a huge impact on its league position, dropping down to second place in the overall standings and now only a few points ahead of Spain and France in third and fourth respectively.

Slingsby said: “It’s very harsh, I understand that the league wants to keep the boats apart. We disagree with the amount of penalty points – we don’t think we deserved the most in SailGP history and we don’t think it was reckless sailing. We’re just going to move on and get a great position here.”

In a race against time, the Australia team has managed to beat all odds and will be on the start line this weekend, after its F50 has been deemed ‘race-ready’ due to speedy repairs made since the previous event.

Slingsby said: “The boat is in great shape and a big thank you to all those that have got the boat back together – for their time and effort. Everyone put in a lot of work and many hours so a huge thank you to the SailGP Tech Team for getting us back on the water.”

Australia wasn’t the only team to be hit with overall season point penalties in Christchurch, Giles Scott’s Emirates Great Britain, as well as Nicolai Sehested and the ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team, were both given eight event points and four season points penalties due to separate incidents so will be looking to redeem themselves in Bermuda.

Scott said: “We had our fair share of dings in Christchurch and picked up penalty points which clearly isn’t ideal. We’ve had a big internal review of that and gone over what we can do to make sure that doesn’t happen again. We have to learn from it but we are very excited to be back here on this beautiful island and to get racing.”

The racing drama in Christchurch resulted in a huge shake-up of the Season 4 leaderboard and left the ‘race for third’ wide open with Diego Botin’s Spain, Quentin Delapierre’s France and ROCKWOOL Denmark looking like favorites to take the final podium position. With just four events remaining of the season, and $2 million on the line in San Francisco for the final Championship Race, Bermuda will be a crucial event for the teams.

Delapierre said: “We are super happy with where we are now – the dynamic of the team is going well. Christchurch was an unbelievable grand prix for us – we are focusing on getting into the Final in San Francisco but I think Peter Burling made sure he could control the final. All these teams are trying to beat him now and we’ll see if we can beat the team in Bermuda.”

The stage is set for an epic weekend of racing, with the weather forecast ideal for fast foiling conditions that will thrill the fans at the new Morgan’s Point Race Stadium. The entertainment will also continue off the water with live entertainment hosted for the first time on island with an Aprés Sail Party immediately following racing on Saturday – featuring soca sensation KES THE BAND.

Ahead of the weekend, SailGP’s Inspire program has activated across the week with its three pillars: Learning, Careers and Racing to host hundreds of Bermudian youth on the island to make a positive and lasting impact on the community.

Inspire offers an exclusive behind the scenes SailGP tech tour at the SailGP Tech Site at Cross Island and lessons that teach the science behind sailing and more. Additionally, the BF&M No Limits Sailing Programme, in partnership with Endeavour, will offer opportunities to students who are on the autism spectrum or who have developmental challenges to experience hands-on learning opportunities with SailGP Inspire.

• Australia SailGP Team – docked eight points in Season Championship for 12-point penalty at ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Christchurch
• Canada SailGP Team – docked four points in Season Championship for eight-point penalty at France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez
• Emirates Great Britain – docked four points in Season Championship for eight-point penalty at ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Christchurch
• Germany SailGP Team – docked two points in Season Championship for four-point penalty at Oracle Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix
• New Zealand SailGP Team unable to compete in Taranto due to the structural failure of the  team’s wingsail at France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez
• ROCKWOOL Denmark – docked four points in Season Championship for eight-point penalty at ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Christchurch
• Spain SailGP Team – docked two points in Season Championship for four-point penalty at Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía – Cádiz
• Switzerland SailGP Team – docked four points in Season Championship for eight-point penalty at Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council