France's SailGP team has won its first professional league regatta with prize money totalling one million US dollars. In the Spanish waters of Cadiz, skipper Quentin Delapierre and "Les Bleus" held their nerve to beat the heavyweights Tom Slingsby with SailGP Team Australia and Jimmy Spithills with the US crew.
The most exciting final decision of the season so far was served up in front of the crowds in Cadiz. Thousands of fans on the shores held their breath as the twin-hulled racers sailed towards the finish line. Just three seconds separated the victorious French and the Americans as they crossed the finish line in the triple final. Reduced to a four-man crew by the race organisers in the decisive race, the least experienced French team were surprisingly the best at handling the F50 catamarans. They made the fewest mistakes on and off the foils in complicated conditions in the choppy sea. Helmsman Delapierre rewarded himself on the first "birthday" of his challenge in the French team, which he had accepted a year earlier.
"It's like riding a bull"
The French team's jubilation at their first victory in the professional league, at the end of which one million US dollars is awarded to the season winners after a total of eleven regattas in the third season, knew no bounds at the finish. "We were patient enough and were able to interpret the course quite well," said helmsman Delapierre about the French team's often soft manoeuvres and their good positioning. Jimmy Spithill and the Americans lost their chance of victory after rounding the second mark in the final when their blue projectile got too much lift, shot into the sky and splashed back into the water. "That's like riding a bull," said one TV commentator.
SailGP champion Tom Slingsby and his green and yellow team did not play a major role in the final. The Australians, who are used to winning and have already won the SailGP season classification twice, only finished third. Jimmy Spithill and the US team had sent the Australians to the sidelines early in the final with match race tactics.
Canada and Great Britain missed out on a place in the final by one point
Previously, Canada with helmsman Phil Robertson and Great Britain with Ben Ainslie were narrowly eliminated from the battle for a place in the final of the top three teams after five fleet races. Only one point separated them from Spithill's Team USA at the cut-off. The British in particular had a rollercoaster ride through the results list this weekend, finishing 8th, 2nd, 1st, 3rd and 9th. Canada, on the other hand, had started weakly with 7th, 8th and 6th places, but then almost catapulted themselves into the final with two victories.
Tom Slingsby's Team Australia remains leader in the season standings
The two-day SailGP summit in Cadiz showed that younger teams and newcomers also have a chance of promotion and victory in this world league if they persevere. The third SailGP season will continue in November with the seventh regatta in Dubai. Click here for the Individual results from Cadiz. And here you will find the Interim results of the season standings after six of eleven events. Tom Slingsby's Australians (50 points) remain top of the table with a four-point lead over Peter Burling, Blair Tuke and their New Zealand team (46 points). The French (41 points) have displaced the British (40 points) from third place. They are followed by Canada, Denmark, the USA, Spain and Switzerland.
