Aussie mates dominate SailGP New York

New York, NY (June 22, 2019) – After building an advantage on day one at SailGP New York, the Japan SailGP Team – helmed by double Olympic medalist Nathan Outteridge – closed out the series today to win its first event in the inaugural SailGP season.

For the third event of the inaugural season, Outteridge and Tom Slingsby’s Australia SailGP Team were once again the cream of the 6-team crop. After finishing 1-2 following five fleet races, these two Aussie mates faced off for one final match race which the Japanese team survived best.

All the racing on the Hudson River was a breakfast scramble as New York’s urban landscape provided an extra challenge as teams battled currents, shifting breezes and varied wind speeds on a smaller, more challenging racecourse. During the lulls, the F50 catamarans go from a Formula 1 car with new tires to one with flat tires. It’s not pretty.

“Here we knew it would be a challenge and what I am really proud about is that our whole team focused every single step of the way,” said Outteridge. “The Aussies are, without a doubt, the team to beat, and I think now we are starting to even out the playing field and can’t wait until Cowes.”

The match race saw Australia with the better start, but had to drop back after a start line penalty. Slingsby’s crew soon regained the lead, only to lose it for good to Outteridge when the wind got scrambly on an offwind leg.

After the US Team suffered a setback yesterday when they did not have a suitable replacement for their injured wing trimmer Riley Gibbs, today was better when Wing Trimmer Coach Tom Johnson flew in from Europe for the final races.

Only one point separates Japan and Australia on the Season 1 leaderboard, but one team hoping to have challenged the status quo was Great Britain SailGP Team which was thwarted by a capsize yesterday prior to racing. The British will be eager for redemption in front of their hometown crowd as SailGP now moves to Cowes, UK (August 10-11).

Final Results – New York SailGP
1. Japan, 2-1-1-1-2-1, 49pts
2. Australia, 1-2-2-2-3-2, 45pts
3. United States, 4-4-5-4-1, 37pts
4. China, 3-5-3-5-6, 33pts
5. France, 5-3-4-6-5, 32pts
6. Great Britain, 6-6-6-3-4, 27pts

Season Leaderboard (after three events)
1. Japan, 2-2-1, 140 pts
2. Australia, 1-1-2, 139 pts
3. Great Britain, 3-3-6, 106 pts
4. United States, 6-4-3, 105 pts
5. China, 4-6-4, 93 pts
5. France, 4-5-6, 93 pts

SailGP details – Team rosters – NYC race information – Results – Where to watch – Facebook

ABOUT SAILGP:
Established in 2018 and headquartered in London and San Francisco, SailGP seeks to be an annual, global sports league featuring fan-centric, inshore racing in some of the iconic harbors around the globe and culminates with a $1 million winner-takes-all match race. Rival national teams from Australia, China, France, Great Britain, Japan, and the United States battle it out in identical wing-powered, foiling F50 catamarans, engineered to exceed 50 knots.

2019 Schedule
Sydney, Australia (February 15-16)
San Francisco, USA (May 4-5)
New York, USA (June 21-22)
Cowes, UK (August 10-11)
Marseille, France (September 20-22)

Source: SailGP, Scuttlebutt