The SailGP season opener: Australia wins off Bermuda: Canada's newcomer: "It's going to be a cool year"

The opening weekend of the third SailGP season served up exciting sailing and provided some insights for the rest of the season.Realisation number one: In its third year, victory in the professional series with the highest prize money of one million US dollars will once again only go to the two-time winners from Australia. Their helmsman Tom Slingsby, wing trimmer Jason Waterhouse and their crew once again presented themselves as confident and self-assured, marching calmly through the preliminary rounds and giving their opponents no chance in the final after a perfect start. "I'm often asked about the secret of our success," explained Tom Slingsby after the races. The 2021 World Sailor of the Year doesn't have a concrete answer: "All I can say is that we are a team with confidence. We won the last fleet race from start to finish. Then we looked at each other and said: 'We're going to storm the final'. And that's exactly what happened." In return, the maximum ten points were transferred to the Australian SailGP season account at the start of the season.

Insight number two: After their rollercoaster ride last year, Sir Ainslie and his British team have made a comeback in the battle for the top positions. With two race wins on the first day, the Brits were able to recapture their former glory days. It was not quite enough to seriously threaten the dominant Australians in the final of the top three teams this weekend, but with wing trimmer Iain Jensen, things were clearly on the up. Ainslie's F50 tamers scored nine points for second place in Bermuda's Great Sound.

"We totally fluffed the start in the final"

The most successful Olympic sailor in the history of the sport with four gold medals knew exactly what his team had been missing to defend their title off Bermuda: "We totally messed up the start in the final. That's so frustrating when you've put in so much hard work beforehand to reach the final. We had a good plan but messed it up. After that, we fought back brilliantly and overtook Canada. But when you make a mistake like that, you make it very difficult for yourself to win." He also explained the mistake: "We missed a gybe and didn't get to the start line in time." Ainslie praised the eventual Australian winners for a "fantastic race" and admitted: "I don't like losing. But with eleven events this season, it's all about consistency. So it was important to bring this second place home. We will take this as motivation and learn from it."

Insight number three: The new Canadian team with New Zealand helmsman Phil Robertson was in a great mood at its first appearance, even leading after the first of the two sailing days in the dream area off Bermuda. The satisfaction must have been enormous for the match race grandmaster, who was so unpleasantly chased from the yard by his previous team Spain. The Kiwi clearly feels at home in his new role and is once again catching the eye with what he does so well: an aggressive and beautiful sailing style that delights the spectators. He was supported by a far less prominent crew than some of his rivals. Here is an individual presentation of the Canadian team (please click!). In the final standings, these up-and-coming Canadians nevertheless catapulted themselves to third place on the podium and collected eight valuable points for their SailGP season account.

Phil Robertson commented enthusiastically on the dream start of his newly formed team: "I'm really proud of my team. It's obviously a cool achievement to finish on the podium at the first regatta. We've been dreaming of something like this happening. Now we are highly motivated for the rest of the season. It's going to be a cool year. But there's still a long way to go."

"I fully understand the black flag"

For France, on the other hand, the final day was one to forget. After a good start and chances of reaching the final, an overly aggressive start in the first race of the second day dashed all blue-white-red hopes. The dangerous manoeuvre put Ainslie's Brits in such trouble that they had to take radical evasive action. The umpires penalised the French with only the second black flag in SailGP history - the end of the race. Helmsman Quentin Delapierre said ruefully: "I fully understand the black flag. I took some risks, and there were too many for me. I simply have to learn from this experience, but I believe that we are still on a good learning curve as a group." While the Danes performed well with fourth place, the Americans with Jimmy Spithill at the helm and the New Zealanders with America's Cup defenders and 49er Olympic champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke wanted more than the fifth and sixth places they achieved at the start of the season. The Spaniards sailed to seventh place, leaving the French in eighth. Last place went to the Swiss with helmsman Sébastien Schneiter.

The second regatta of the third SailGP season will take place on 18 and 19 June in Chicago and will be broadcast live as usual. After that, the SailGP will take place in four European regattas one after the other. And h his is the interim season standings after the season opener off Bermuda (please click!).