Oracle Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix Day 1 - Australia's stars shine brightest
by SailGP 23 Jul 2023 14:36 AEST
22-23 July 2023
The SailGP fleet of 10 boats in action on Race Day 1 of the Oracle Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix at the Port of Los Angeles, in California, USA. 22nd July © Ricardo Pinto for SailGP
It was a case of a brand new racecourse but the same dominant Australian team performance on day one of the Oracle Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix at the Port of Los Angeles. Under typically sunny Californian skies Tom Slingsby's team won the day's first race and performed admirably in the other two to sit atop the standings after day one.
Slingsby said: "We're really pleased. We had a good day, first race was great. We sailed really well, then second race, we sailed well with just one mistake or so. And then the last race was a bit of a battle for us, we got a bit of weed on the boat, but all the boats were getting weed, so there's no excuse. So, look, we are really happy with the first, second and fourth today."
The day's other two race winners, Ben Ainslie's Emirates Great Britain and Nicolai Sehested's ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team, occupy the final podium positions in the all important top three. Diego Botin's Spain had one of its finest days in SailGP, finishing second in the day's final race and is well in the hunt for an event final spot sitting in fourth place.
Ainslie said: "It was a tough day to be consistent, but we did do a good job of it. It felt like it was a battle out there for sure. It's such a tight race course, but it was a battle for all of the teams. Overall it was a good day and fantastic racing, really, really tight race course, good conditions."
The ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team claimed its first fleet race win of Season 4 after a fantastic start in race two, and a solid day of performances sees it in contention for the event win.
Sehested said: "I have massive confidence in the team, the team did a great job pulling off hard maneuvers and to be honest that's all we focused on the training day was just hard maneuvers because we know if you can pull those off you're going to be alright under stress. That's going to be key tomorrow on this racecourse."
Phil Robertson's Canada is still well in the hunt for the final with third place in the day's final race elevating the team to fifth place. In contrast it was a difficult day for championship leaders Peter Burling's New Zealand who came last in the day's final fleet race and sit 10 points out of the top 3. They are equal sixth with home team, the Jimmy Spithill-led United States, which once again failed to really fire in front of the home fans.
Quentin Delapierre and France's disappointing start to Season 4 continued as it sits in eighth place, one ahead of newcomers Erik Heil's Germany with Sebastien Schneiter and Switzerland at the back of the pack.
It was a brighter day post racing for Germany as team co-owner and four time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel took the wheel of the F50 for some post-racing practice with the team.
Vettel said: "To be honest I was kind of wishing for a seatbelt when we were turning, but it was incredible to see the way the team interacts with each other and always trying to keep the boat in control while going as fast as possible, it's really impressive."
Day two of racing starts at 4.00 p.m. local time and is available to watch on YouTube and CBS Sports in the United States. Fans around the globe can watch from wherever they are at SailGP.com/watch.
LOS ANGELES SAIL GRAND PRIX AT PORT OF LOS ANGELES DAY TWO //
Day Two Racing: Sunday, July 23, 4-5.30 p.m. Pacific Summer Time
ROLEX UNITED STATES SAIL GRAND PRIX | CHICAGO AT NAVY PIER // DAY ONE STANDINGS (after 3 races)
1 // Australia // 26 points
2 // ROCKWOOL Denmark // 24 points
3 // Emirates Great Britain / 24 points
4 // Spain // 22 points
5 // Canada // 18 points
6 // New Zealand // 14 points
7 // United States // 14 points
8 // France // 10 points
9 // Germany // 7 points
10 // Switzerland // 6 points