Aussies stand strong ahead of Brits in battle for Plymouth Sail Grand Prix
by Olivia Hogan / Australia SailGP Team 31 Jul 2022 09:39 NZST
30-31 July 2022
Race Day 1 of the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Plymouth © Sam Kurtul /
www.worldofthelens.co.uk
Tom Slingsby and his Australia Team has secured a spot at the top of the fleet after the first day of racing, coming in second place, ahead of their British rivals, who are sitting in fifth place.
Commenting on the racing Tom Slingsby said: "We did make a lot of mistakes at the start but the team rallied and we battled back to get some decent positions."
"Being ahead of Ben Ainslie is not an easy feat. It's nice to have not had a great day but to still be on top of them. Also fortunately for us they didn't have a great day but the points are still very close so we are both going to be battling it out side by side to make it to the final. Pretty much every team has a chance of making the final at this point so it's super close", Slingsby added.
The team's mates from across the ditch, New Zealand, surprised all with a dominant first day, securing their position of first in the fleet, with a solid six point lead on the Australians.
Tom Slingsby said: "The Kiwis are motivated by everyone putting them down for the last year. They have copped a lot of flak from spectators and media for finishing Season 2 towards the bottom of the leaderboard. They are pretty much a shoe-in to make the final tomorrow."
Slingsby's crew also announced new team member Lucy Copeland, who raced on the flying roo for the first time today in the strategist role. Copeland, 25, of Sydney will join the team for Season 3 through the Women's Pathway Program (WPP).
The program aims to fast-track the training and development of female athletes with the goal of creating an inclusive sporting championship that has gender equity. In a bid to accelerate the program, for Season 3, each team will have three female athletes join throughout the season to gain vital training and racing experience on the F50.
Lucy Copeland said: "I know not many athletes get this opportunity to race on board an F50 so it's a huge honour. It's been a steep learning curve jumping straight onto the boat for this event, but my teammates have been incredible in hosting one-on-one briefings sessions with me and our coach has been taking me through the Oracle data analysis each day to help fast track my learning."
Speaking on her role on board today, Copeland said: "As you can imagine with nine F50s on the course there is a lot going on, so in my role as strategist I'm an extra set of eyes for Tom. I was watching the other boats and looking for any course bias whilst relaying this information back to Tom to support him in his tactical decision making."
Racing will continue tomorrow, with the top three scoring teams set to compete in the final race, where the champion of the Plymouth Sail Grand Prix will be crowned. Australian fans can tune in live on Fox Sports and on Kayo in Australia to watch the racing, which takes place at 11:00PM AEST. Kayo are offering fans free access to both the live and replay racing, via its Kayo Freebies offer.