SailGP: Who will reach the 2 million dollar final? France shocks Spain with wow starts
Tatjana Pokorny
· 14.07.2024
Quentin Delapierre and his Les Bleus have opened the final summit of the fourth SailGP season in impressive style: After three outstanding starts, a race win and two third places, France's SailGP aces lead the standings ahead of Denmark and Canada at the showdown in San Francisco. For the French, nothing less than a place in the two million US dollar final, for which New Zealand is already certain and the Australians are as good as qualified without any dramatic drop-outs, is at stake in the prominent US venue.
The SailGP duel for the third place in the final
However, a thrilling duel is raging for third place in the final. Diego Botin and his Spaniards entered the San Francisco arena in third place ahead of the showdown. After twelve events, Los Gallos had a five-point lead over the French team in the season rankings. That looked like a good cushion. But now helmsman Quentin Delapierre and his team have let it rip between Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. With three brilliant starts, they have even taken the event lead after the first three of five fleet races until the grand finale late on Sunday evening.
Quentin Delapierre and his team - from the helmsman to the crew and coaches, the representatives of the French Orient Express Racing Team - showed the effects of their intensive training in the America's Cup. Even though the America's Cup is sailed on foiling monohull yachts and not on catamarans like the SailGP F50 projectiles: Timing, positioning, confidence and coordination on board were impressive from the French on Saturday.
France shines, Spain flops
At the same time, the Spaniards fluffed up badly, ruined their good starting position with extremely weak starts and suddenly found themselves in seventh place in the San Francisco standings after the first of the two final days. Translated into the season standings, the results on Sunday morning before the last two flee races meant that the French would make it to the final after New Zealand and Australia. Spain have two more fleet races left on Monday night to turn the tide in their favour.
Are we ready for tomorrow? Absolutely! It's not over yet" (Quentin Delapierre)
Quentin Delapierre took stock after the first of the two SailGP final days: "The first plan was to concentrate on ourselves - just try to be first and throw ourselves into the starts. Are we ready for tomorrow? Definitely! It's not over yet. The Spaniards are incredible athletes who are not easy to beat. So we need to focus on the two races tomorrow and be patient to try and put five points between them and us at the end." The French team's outstanding performance was all the more impressive given that Les Bleus were unable to take part in Friday's practice session ahead of the showdown due to technical problems with their F50 trailer.
Many observers wondered whether the pressure for Diego Botin and his Los Gallos might be too much for the young Spanish team in San Francisco in view of the Spaniards' botched hesitant and second-row starts. After a very weak start, the Spaniards were able to make up some ground in the races, but with 7th, 6th and 5th places they were initially unable to finish higher than seventh in the San Francisco classification. In comparison to the outstanding performance of the French, this would not be enough to qualify for the triple final of the season's best.
A race win for Tom Slingsby's Flying Roos
The Spaniards have two races left in the night from Sunday to Monday to snatch a ticket to the final from the French. This brings back memories of the semi-final of the European Football Championship, where France initially took a 1-0 lead in the semi-final before Spain won the game 2-1 and progressed to the final, which will be held on the same Sunday as the big SailGP final. Spain's tactician and grinder Joan Cardona said: "We did a really good job getting the boat round the course. We just obviously made mistakes on the starts, so tomorrow we just have to find a way across the start line."
We like the pressurised conditions in San Francisco" (Tom Slingsby)
With three different winners in each of the three races on SailGP day one between the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, the World League showed its diversity: France's victory in the first race was followed by a masterful performance by three-time season champion Tom Slingsby and his Flying Roos. The Australians made it clear why the Flying Roos have never been beaten in the San Francisco area. With the victory in Fleetrace 2, Australia took a big step closer to tomorrow's two-million-dollar final. "The pressurised conditions here in San Francisco suit us," said the record SailGP winner before the first start and he backed up his words with action.
The Danes also impressed: Rockwool Team Denmark was in third place at the 13th, last and most important SailGP summit of the fourth season after the first three fleet races behind France and the Impact League winners from Team Emirates GBR, but can no longer reach the season finale.
SailGP organisers announce training camps
The Germany SailGP team around driver Erik Heil did not have the best day. At the end of the premiere season for the youngest newcomers to the league, the German team was particularly unlucky at the start. Although the German team of Sebastian Vettel and Thomas Riedel were able to make up ground on the course again and again and in some cases make it into the midfield of the 10-boat elite fleet, they did not get over the start line well in their first regatta outing with the smallest sails in pressurised conditions. However, in eighth place after three of five fleet races, Erik Heil and his team were initially able to leave the Swiss and the Americans behind at the test of strength in San Francisco.
There was good news for the Germany SailGP Team as well as the Americans and the Danes. These three teams will be able to take part in the first of two training camps on the F50 foils in August, which were announced by the league this weekend. The three-week intensive training programme off Bermuda is intended to help the less experienced teams reduce the gap between them and the experienced league giants.
The Germany SailGP Team, the youngest newcomer to the league, will only have around 60 days on the catamarans at the end of the first season. League heavyweights like the Australians, on the other hand, have up to 700 days, explained Erik Heil. "And they don't stop there," said the two-time Olympic bronze medallist in the 49er about his team's demanding race to catch up. Another SailGP training camp with all the league teams is planned for October off Dubai, where an event of the fifth season will also be held afterwards.
It is quite possible that all the teams first studied the French team's brilliant starts as part of their overnight training in San Francisco in order to optimise their own. Here you can see the formidable moves of Les Bleus in the highlights of the day:
