Four teams remain in contention for an outright victory in this season’s SailGP Championship, but all four suffered poor starts in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Only three of the four will make it into Sunday’s season-deciding winner-take-all race, with defending champions Spain the least likely to reach the grand final after the team failed to gain ground on the existing three of Britain, New Zealand and Australia after finishing bottom of the day’s leaderboard.
Conditions were frightfully mild against the Abu Dhabi skyline, with the wind barely rising above six knots. There was little or no chance of a crowd seeing any full hydrofoiling from the fleet of 12 F50 catamarans. Instead of the usual complement of six crew on board, teams were limited to just three sailors, keeping the overall weight of the boat as light as possible.
As always, getting through the crowded start line cleanly was a big part of the puzzle. But making the best of the limited air was also high on the list of priorities. This was a game of reducing the dangerous ‘H2’ mode, which is how sailors and coaches describe two hulls floating in the water. Getting into ‘H1’ mode, which is a hull flying over the water, was the best hope for anyone in the sunny but overcast conditions.
While the season favorites failed to make an impact, it was up to some of the mid-fleet contenders to make the most of their opportunity.
The Danish team performed excellently, with Nikolai Sehstedt taking full advantage of the new wing rig, which was released to the entire fleet for the first time this week, taking the lead in the day’s rankings with two wins, a second and a third.
“We had good speed all day,” the Danish driver said. Athletic. “The boat was smooth sailing in the water with nice, clean trimming and maneuverability. Normally in the light stuff we’re fighting in the pack, elbows out, but it all looked good to us.”
Pete Burling must be relieved to recover from a serious injury to his index finger suffered in training three days ago. The New Zealand captain was taken to hospital for an operation after he cut his finger during the maneuver. Burling pointed out that while others around the Kiwis were worried whether he would be ready in time athletic After Saturday’s race: “I never doubted that I would be able to race. It was good to get out for the Friday session and recover quicker than I thought.”
With such light winds, downdraft from TV camera helicopters was having an impact on racing, as Australian driver Tom Slingsby reported Athletic.
“I politely asked if the helicopters could keep a little more distance after yesterday’s (Friday) practice session, but they were still affecting the racing. If that’s what it has to be, so be it, it’s the same for everyone.”
“If it’s part of the game, we have to see where the helicopter is going and try to follow it,” he said, laughing.
The SailGP fleet before the race in Abu Dhabi. (Bob Martin for SailGP)
The British team finished 10th on Saturday’s leaderboard with Australia on 11 points, but driver Dylan Fletcher was not worried.
“We never want to get that far behind and there’s no doubt that we didn’t get off to a good start, however towards the end of the afternoon we started to improve,” he said. Strong.
“We would like to win the season points battle, but the most important focus is to get into that grand final.”
On Sunday, there will be two fleet races before the top three on the season overall leaderboard advance to the Grand Finals and have the chance to compete for a $2 million prize.
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