Australia wins it all in San Francisco

San Francisco, CA (May 7, 2023) – Tom Slingsby’s Australia has reasserted its league-defining dominance by winning Season 3 in spectacular style and securing the SailGP three-peat on San Francisco Bay.

The Aussies claimed the one-million dollar prize in a nail-biting sprint to the finish after going head to head with Peter Burling’s New Zealand and Emirates GBR in the three-boat, winner-takes-all Grand Final.

After finishing top of the San Francisco event leaderboard, the Aussies entered the three-boat showdown on a wave of momentum and confidence. They claimed the advantage early on, pushing out the Brits in the pre-start and taking the inside track to lead at Mark One.

Aggressive tactics throughout saw the Aussies only extend their lead and dominate for the majority of the race. But the most dramatic moment of the Final saw the Aussies fall off the foils on the penultimate leg, allowing the Kiwis to close the gap in the final stages of the race.

Despite coming close to overtaking the Aussies and stealing the win, the Kiwis ran out of water in the dramatic sprint to the finish line and it was Australia once again who proved why they are the team to beat by soaring across the finish line.

Reflecting on the race, Australia driver Tom Slingsby admitted: “I thought we lost it.”

“That was not in the plan – I was very scared. I thought it could be the biggest choke of all time, but fortunately we were able to get it over the line.”

He attributed the team’s historic victory to the rest of his crew. “The fact that we got the job done today is a huge testament to these people. I’m so thankful to have such an amazing team. Our run is going to come to an end eventually but we just want to extend it for as long as we can.”

Fleet racing
The final fleet races of the event were packed with drama, with Jimmy Spithill’s United States colliding with Denmark on the start line of the fourth fleet race. Despite this, it was a solid day for Nicolai Sehested’s team, which picked up a third and fourth position to finish the event in forth overall.

France battled back from a terrible first day to pick up a race win in the fourth fleet race, but it was too little, too late for Quentin Delapierre’s team, which was denied a shot at the Grand Final by Emirates GBR.

The F50 fleet will next meet for the opening event of Season 4 in Chicago on June 16-17.

San Francisco Results
1. Australia (Tom Slingsby), 1-3-1-2-1, 47 points
2. Great Britain (Ben Ainslie), 2-1-2-4-5, 41
3. Canada (Phil Robertson), 8-2-5-5-2, 33
4. Denmark (Nicolai Sehested), 5-6-4-3-4, 33
5. France (Quintin Delapierre), 6-8-6-1-6, 28
6. New Zealand (Peter Burling), 4-7-3-6-7, 28
7. Switzerland (Sebastien Schneiter), 3-5-9-9-9, 20
8. United States (Jimmy Spithill), 7-4-7-7-3, 19
9. Spain (Jordi Xammar/Diego Botin), 9-9-8-8-8, 13

SailGP information – San Francisco details – Season 3 scoreboard – YouTube – How to watch

Final Season Three Standings (11 events)
1. Australia (Tom Slingsby)
2. New Zealand (Peter Burling)
3. Great Britain (Ben Ainslie)
4. France (Quintin Delapierre), 69 points
5. Canada (Phil Robertson), 59 points
6. Denmark (Nicolai Sehested), 60 points
7. United States (Jimmy Spithill), 57 points
8. Switzerland (Sebastien Schneiter), 29 points
9. Spain (Jordi Xammar/Diego Botin), 29 points

PENALTIES
• Spain SailGP Team: Docked two points in Season Championship for four-point penalty at Plymouth
• Switzerland SailGP Team: Docked two points in Season Championship for four-point penalty at Saint-Tropez
• United Stated SailGP Team: Docked four points in Season Championship for eight-point penalty at Saint-Tropez
• New Zealand SailGP Team: Docked two points in Season Championship for four-point penalty at Dubai; Docked two points in Season Championship for four-point penalty at Singapore

2022-23 SailGP Season 3 Schedule
May 14-15, 2022 – Bermuda Sail Grand Prix presented by Hamilton Princess
June 18-19, 2022 – United States Sail Grand Prix | Chicago at Navy Pier
July 30-31, 2022 – Great Britain Sail Grand Prix | Plymouth
August 19-20, 2022 – ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix | Copenhagen
September 10-11, 2022 – France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez
September 24-25, 2022 – Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía – Cádiz
November 12-13, 2022 – Dubai Sail Grand Prix presented by P&O Marinas
January 14-15, 2023 – Singapore Sail Grand Prix
February 18-19, 2023 – Australia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney
March 18-19, 2023 – New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Christchurch
May 6-7, 2023 – United States Sail Grand Prix | San Francisco (Season 3 Grand Final)

Format for 2022-23 SailGP events:
• Teams compete in identical F50 catamarans.
• Each event runs across two days.
• There are three qualifying races each day for all nine teams.*
• The top three teams from qualifying advance to a final race to be crowned event champion and earn the largest share of the $300,000 prize money to be split among the top three teams.
• The season ends with the Grand Final, which includes the Championship Final Race – a winner-takes-all match race for the $1m prize.
* Qualifying schedule increased from five to six races at France SailGP.

For competition documents, click here.

Established in 2018, SailGP seeks to be an annual, global sports league featuring fan-centric inshore racing in some of the iconic harbors around the globe. Rival national teams compete in identical F50 catamarans for event prize money as the season culminates with a $1 million winner-takes-all match race.

Source:SailGP