SailGP Dubai: Consistent Australia leads after a funky Day 1
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 9 Dec 2023 04:37 PST
Australia SailGP Team sail past the Team Coach Boxes and Race Management Platform on Race Day 1 of the Emirates Sail Grand Prix © Adam Warner/SailGP
Australia leads after Day 1 at Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix with a 5pt advantage over New Zealand and Canada. A further two teams - Great Britain and France one point back on 20pts.
With the breeze flicking around 9kts, with several soft spots in the pressure, it was day for consistency, and Jimmy Spithill (AUS) duly obliged. Reunited with several of his Oracle team from the 2017 and 2013 America's Cups, the Australians, returned a 3, 1, 3 scorecard.
The Australian team stamped their mark on each race from the start, managing to stay out of trouble on the start line, and were in contact with the lead group at Mark 1.
The light winds - usually just enough to get foiling - meant that the teams had to execute a near perfect time on distance starting strategy - to ensure that they were foiling and on time, to avoid being caught in the combined wing sail turbulence of the 10 boat fleet.
Spithill won Race 2 leading from end to end by a comfortable margin from New Zealand's Peter Burling - his nemesis in the 2017 America's Cup in Bermuda, and again in Auckland in 2021. In the other two races the Australians were with striking distance of third place and moved into the slot mid-race. There was none of the Houdini tactics that have become the trademark of regular Australian skipper Tom Slingsby, as the Olympic Gold medalist and America's Cup winner made vital gains even when under extreme competitive pressure.
The tight leader board shows that four teams New Zealand, Canada,Great Britain and France are covered by just a single point, with two to progress to join Australia in the Final.
The other key point of interest was the performance of the USA team which which had a management and complete sailing crew change during the week. They did have their moments - particularly in Race 2, when they were second at Mark 1 and in the top three at Marks 2 and 3, before dropping back through the fleet. Their best race was their first when they crossed the line in 7th place.
Two more races will be sailed on Sunday, in the Qualification phase, with the top three progressing to the Final.