Aussies set for winner-takes-all final in San Francisco after opening day on the Bay
by Australia SailGP Team 23 Mar 02:41 EST
22-23 March 2025
The opening day of the Oracle San Francisco Sail Grand Prix saw drama and close calls unfold on the Bay as trademark tactics from Tom Slingsby's Australia crew earned them an impressive second-place finish after the first day of racing.
Thousands of fans lined the shoreline to witness the world's best sailors battle it out through rolling waves, a challenging current and a packed course in an electrifying start to the event. Despite the elements, the Aussies delivered a consistent and composed performance, finishing 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, and 4th in four fleet races.
Australia now sits just three points behind event leaders NorthStar Canada, who continued their hot streak from Los Angeles, while Diego Botin's Spain Team holds third place heading into the final day of racing.
Reflecting on the results, Slingsby acknowledged his team's solid performance but noted there is still room for improvement as they prepare for the Super Sunday of racing in San Francisco.
"We sailed well today but we're still making mistakes. I didn't start great. They weren't terrible starts as we were still able to generally get in the middle of the pack but when we're clean, we showed what we can do. There was one lap there where we overtook seven boats so it shows what we can do," he said.
"Consistency is so important, there were a couple of times where I thought we could get into the top two and challenge for the win but we made a couple of little errors here and there but overall I'm happy. We know Canada had a great day but we will keep chipping away and hope that we meet them in the Final tomorrow."
While Australia fought hard, it was a day to forget for the United States crew, who struggled to recover from penalties and setbacks, finishing at the bottom of the leaderboard in front of their home crowd.
"It was pretty crowded especially at the start line and mark one. We got through it pretty well - a couple of close calls but we ended up with a good day. It seems when we got a better start we didn't overtake as well, and when we got a poorer start we did overtake well so we ended up with very similar results," Slingsby said.
Looking ahead to the final day of racing two where the Aussies have historically come out victorious on the Bay, Slingsby commented: "There's always a few surprises on the Super Sundays that get thrown our way. We just have to stay consistent and I'm really keen to make the Final and execute."
The Aussies will look to carry their momentum into the final day as they chase a crucial event win and valuable points to attempt to take the lead in the overall 2025 Season standings.
All is still to play for tomorrow when racing resumes at 8:30am AEDT on Monday 24 March for Australians, with the top three teams set to go head-to-head in the winner-takes-all Podium Final for a prize winning purse of $800,000 USD.
Aussie fans can catch all the high-speed action live on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports.