USA wins Spain Sail Grand Prix

After Jimmy Spithill’s USA Team narrowly advanced out of the qualifying stage at Spain Sail Grand Prix, they clobbered Denmark and Australia in the winner-take-all final to claim the fifth event of the season on October 14-15 in Cádiz, Spain.

With the USA team including new flight controller Taylor Canfield on day one, Canfield had to watch on day two as lighter winds reduced the crew to four, but it is in the non-foiling conditions that Spithill has proven dangerous, and it was that scenario in which they claimed the third slot in the finals.

Denmark and reigning champion Australia had dominated the qualifiers, and they got off the line in that order with USA trailing with a pre-start penalty. “Nothing pretty about that start – it was 100 percent my fault,” said Spithill. “I didn’t see the boundary.”

But opportunity came after the teams rounded the first mark in that order.

“As it turns out, that (penalty) worked in our favor,” admitted Spithill. “For the teams in front at Mark 1 the wind had started to go light, so we were able to jibe and lead them out of there. And that was really the race.”

Despite their third place finish, season leader Australia retains the position but Denmark’s second place in Cadiz  improved their rank from fourth to second, and USA improved from sixth to third.

Cadiz Final Results
1. United States (Jimmy Spithill), 2-3-10-3-4-(1)
2. Denmark (Nicolai Sehested), 3-4-2-1-1-(2)
3. Australia (Tom Slingsby), 5-2-1-6-2-(3)
4. New Zealand (Peter Burling), 4-5-8-2-5
5. Canada (Phil Robertson), 7-7-5-5-3
6. Spain (Diego Botin), 1-6-3-4-10
7. France (Quintin Delapierre), 9-1-7-9-7
8. Great Britain (Ben Ainslie), 8-10-6-7-6
9. Germany (Erik Heil), 6-9-9-8-8
10. Switzerland (Sebastien Schneiter), 10-8-4-10-9

SailGP information – Spain details – YouTube – How to watch

Season Standings (after five of 13 events; results and total points)
1. Australia (Tom Slingsby), 2-3-2-2-3; 43 points
2. Denmark (Nicolai Sehested), 4-2-4-7-2; 36
3. United States (Jimmy Spithill), 9-5-5-3-1; 32
4. Spain (Diego Botin), 5-1-3-6-6; 32
5. Great Britain (Ben Ainslie), 7-6-1-1-8; 32
6. New Zealand (Peter Burling), 1-7-8-DNC/6-4; 30
7. Canada (Phil Robertson), 3-4-10-5-5; 24
8. France (Quintin Delapierre), 6-8-6-4-7; 24
9. Switzerland (Sebastien Schneiter), 8-9-9-9; 11
10. Germany (Erik Heil), 10-10-7-8-9-10; 8
Notes:
• Canada SailGP Team: Docked four points in Season Championship for eight-point penalty at France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez
• Germany SailGP Team: Docked two points in Season Championship for four-point penalty at Oracle Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix
• New Zealand SailGP Team: Granted six event points for Italy Sail Grand Prix as unable to compete due to wing damage suffered at France Sail Grand Prix.

Season 4 – 2023
June 16-17 – United States Sail Grand Prix | Chicago at Navy Pier
July 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | Los Angeles
September 9-10 – France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez
September 23-24 – Italy Sail Grand Prix | Taranto
October 14-15 – Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía- Cádiz
December 9-10 – Dubai Sail Grand Prix | Dubai*

Season 4 – 2024
January 13-14 – Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix | Abu Dhabi
February 24-25 – Australia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney
March 23-24 – New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland
May 4-5 – Bermuda Sail Grand Prix
June 1-2 – Canada Sail Grand Prix | Halifax
June 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | New York
July 13-14 – SailGP Season 4 Grand Final | San Francisco
* Added October 3, 2023

Format for Season 4:
• Teams compete in identical F50 catamarans.
• Each event runs across two days.
• Up to seven qualifying fleet races of approximately 15 minutes may be scheduled for each regatta.
• The top three teams from qualifying advance to a final race to be crowned event champion and earn the largest share of the $300,000.00 USD event prize money purse that’s divided among the top three teams.
• The season ends with the Grand Final, which includes the Championship Final Race for the top three teams in the season standing with the winner claiming the $1m USD prize.

For competition documents, click here.

Established in 2018, SailGP seeks to be an annual, global sports league featuring fan-centric inshore racing among national teams in some of the iconic harbors around the globe.

Source: USA SailGP