The Spaniards celebrated their SailGP triumph in San Francisco this weekend with loud shouts of "¡Vamos! The first event success this year has brought "Los Gallos" back into the top three in the battle for the season championship. In the final between the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island, the defending champions were not fazed by the lightning start from the French.
Spain wins the SailGP: strong strategy, precise attacks
With strong positioning and precise attacks, the 49er Olympic champions Diego Botín and Flo Trittel and their team took victory ahead of Canada and France. Les Bleus made a strong start to the final, had the inside lane at mark one and stormed away. However, the Spanish skiff sailors then turned their chasing position into gold when they opted for the other side of the course after gate two, where they found more pressure and correspondingly more speed.
This split was to be decisive for the race, as the Spaniards took the lead from the French on the third section of the course and brought it to the finish line with a flawless performance. After a 100 per cent flying time and an impressive sailing gala, the Spaniards crossed the line first in the fresh winds of 15 to 18 knots. Diego Botin cited "good boat speed and good decision-making processes on the course" as the main reasons for the success.
However, the main topic of the day on Sunday in the Californian metropolis was the breakage drama of the Australians. A few seconds before the start of the seventh and final race, the wing rig on the green and yellow F50 foiler came crashing down from above with a loud roar. Close by, but ahead of the Australians, Erik Heil and the Germany SailGP team witnessed the disaster first with their ears and then with their eyes.
Australian wing break in the SailGP
"I heard the crash behind us. Then I looked round once and saw the wing fly off. We still don't know why that happened. But it shouldn't have happened," said Erik Heil, describing his impressions after the race. The cause of the failure of the medium-sized 24 metre high wing in use that day was initially unclear, even for the Australian crew.
Shortly before the drama, record winner Australia had started the final fleet race before the showdown highly motivated after top performances at the SailGP in San Francisco. After finishing 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 2nd, the Flying Roos almost had both hulls in the triple final. But seconds before the start signal, the Australian racing catamaran suffered an unexpected break.
While the six-man crew from Down Under remained unharmed, the Australians and their helpers who rushed to the scene had their hands full securing the boat and fishing parts out of the water in San Francisco Bay between the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island.
Not the first SailGP mast breakage
Australian "wind whisperer" Tom Slingsby has never experienced a shock like that day in San Francisco in the Formula 1 of sailing. While his crew got off lightly, the green and yellow boat looked like a battlefield. SailGP dominator, Olympic champion and America's Cup winner Tom Slingsby is in his fifth year as the most experienced and successful SailGP helmsman in the fleet.
But the Australian "wind whisperer" has never experienced an accident like that day in San Francisco in the Formula 1 of sailing. The last time the mast broke during a SailGP regatta was a good 18 months ago. In September 2023, the New Zealanders' sail wing "exploded". The Kiwis also narrowly escaped injury.
A year later, the only SailGP helmswoman Martine Grael and Team Brazil experienced a catastrophic wing failure during their initial training off Bermuda. The South Americans also escaped with a scare and a demolished boat.
Research into the causes is underway
The cause of the material failure was not yet known. Tom Slingsby reported how he experienced the accident: "I think everyone here saw more than I did. We got to the start, looked for a gap and realised that there wouldn't be one. So we drove up. I thought we were clearly behind the Italians. And I assumed that we were clearly ahead of the US boat."
Tom Slingsby continued: "I don't really know what happened, but I assume that the wing failed at the moment when we luffed sharply. And after that it was just a question of whether everyone was OK."
Slingsby described it as a top priority "to find out exactly what happened". He continued: "We need to look at the different camera angles. We need to find out whether it was a wing failure or whether something else was involved".
Not a good weekend for the Germany SailGP Team
Despite a shock exit and zero points for this last race, the Australians qualified for the final in San Francisco, but were naturally unable to take part due to a lack of boats. France moved up. This gave the French their chance, but they were unable to tame the teams from Spain and Canada.
The Germany SailGP Team had to struggle with itself this weekend. Although Erik Heil's crew managed a top start on both Saturday and Sunday, this was not enough with too many weak starts. Overall, the racing team of entrepreneur Thomas Riedel and four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel only managed tenth and penultimate place at the showdown in California. Click here for the results from San Francisco.
It was a bit mediocre and frustrating for us today." Erik Heil
Too many weak starts and speed problems prevented a better German result in California. Erik Heil's realisation: "We had difficulties somehow catching up through the field today. We lost more and more metres in terms of speed over the whole course."
Despite wing breakage: Australia leads the season rankings
This clearly outlined the tasks for the coming weeks until the next SailGP summit on 3 and 4 May in Rio de Janeiro. Erik Heil said: "We have to significantly improve our speed to really be able to keep up with the competition, especially in conditions like today." The German racing team will have a chance to do this next week at a training session in Miami.
Until then, after five of 13 SailGP events, Tom Slingsby's Australian team leads the season championship with 39 points ahead of Great Britain (38 points), Spain (36 points) and New Zealand (35 points), despite a black weekend and uncertain prospects as to how quickly the broken wing can be replaced. Here is an overview of the interim standings of the current season's championship.
The Germany SailGP Team has not yet got rid of the red lantern of the tail light after the thunderstorm of penalty points in Sydney. With still one penalty point, the Germans are in twelfth and last place for the time being behind the US team led by driver Taylor Canfield. They have to and want to roll up the field from behind and get into a better position before the German premiere on 16 and 17 August. Click here for ticket sales for the Germany Sail Grand Prix Sassnitz.
How the Australians' sailing wing collapsed:
How Tom Slingsby and the other skippers reacted to the broken wing:
