British Rule, Canadians Impress during First Day of SailGP Bermuda
The world’s top sailors representing nine different countries all raced in the Bermuda’s Great Sound this afternoon during the first day of SailGP’s third season.
In addition to seven out of the eight teams that participated last season, two new teams joined the fleet for this season in Bermuda: Team Canada, led by Phil Robertson and Team Switzerland, led by Sebastien Schneiter.
Team Japan, led by Nathan Outerridge, were scheduled to sail with the other teams today, but confirmed yesterday that they will not be participating in the first leg, with Mr. Outerridge citing a
lack of adequate funding.
Hundreds of lively and jovial spectators came down to the cross-island event village in Dockyard to watch today’s races. There were also a lot of spectators enjoying the races from the water and on land surrounding the Great Sound.
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Ben Ainslie led his Great Britain team to win two out of the three races today; the winning times being 10:57 and 12:01, respectively.
In the first race, Mr. Robertson’s Canadian team came second, crossing the finish line only 31 seconds after Mr. Ainslie’s crew. Jimmy Spithill’s USA team finished off the top three in the first
race, 57 seconds after the British.
Canada won the second race of the day, dashing through the finish line at 12:44. Quentin Delapierre’s French team followed the Canadians to the finish line, 37 seconds later. Peter Burling’s New Zealand Team followed the French, 54 seconds after the race winners.
The French reached the top three again in the third and final race of the day, practically flying into the finish line only eight seconds after the British proved victorious. The defending champions of the first two seasons of SailGP, Team Australia, led by Tom Slingsby, clocked in
third, 17 seconds after the British.
Today’s three races have resulted in the following scores for the teams going into tomorrow:
Canada leads the fleet with 25 points,
Great Britain follows closely behind by earning 23 points,
Team Australia is third with 21 points,
the French have 20, Team USA acquired 16 points,
Denmark and New Zealand have 15 points, the Spanish have 14 and Team Switzerland is at the bottom of the board with 13 points.
Tune into TNN tomorrow for more excitement on the water, as we recap the second and final day of SailGP Bermuda Season 3. Stay tuned.
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Story by TNN Reporter Stefano Ausenda