Tom Slingsby’s Australia has reasserted its league-defining dominance by winning Season 3 in spectacular style and securing the SailGP three-peat on San Francisco Bay.
The Aussies claimed the one-million-dollar prize in a nail-biting sprint to the finish after going head-to-head with Peter Burling’s New Zealand and Emirates GBR in the three-boat, winner-takes-all Grand Final.
Despite coming close to overtaking the Aussies and stealing the win, the Kiwis ran out of water in the dramatic sprint to the finish line and it was Australia once again who proved why they are the team to beat by soaring across the finish line.
Reflecting on the race, Australia driver Tom Slingsby admitted: “I thought we lost it.”
“That was not in the plan - I was very scared. I thought it could be the biggest choke of all time, but fortunately, we were able to get it over the line.”
Fleet racing
The final fleet races of the event were packed with drama, with Jimmy Spithill’s United States colliding with Denmark on the start line of the fourth fleet race. Despite this, it was a solid day for Nicolai Sehested’s team, which picked up a third and fourth position to finish the event in fourth overall.
France battled back from a terrible first day to pick up a race win in the fourth fleet race, but it was too little, too late for Quentin Delapierre’s team, which was denied a shot at the Grand Final by Emirates GBR.
The F50 fleet will next meet for the opening sail grand prix of Season 4 in Chicago on June 18-19.
