More than 20,000 people turned to for the inaugural SailGP event on Sydney Harbour this past weekend, with the home team Australia — helmed by local hero Tom Slingsby — beating Japan in the final to clinch the first victory of the series.
Six nations are taking part in the stadium yacht racing series launched by America’s Cup winners Larry Ellison and Sir Russell Coutts.
Teams race in identical F50 catamarans, adapted from the AC50 that featured in the most recent America’s Cup, with a prize of $1 million for the overall winning crew.
Olympic gold medallist Laser sailor Slingsby and his crew of flight controller and tactician Jason Waterhouse, wing trimmer Kyle Langford, grinders Sam Newton and Ky Hurst, and Kinley Fowler “gave a masterclass to the rest of the fleet”, according to SailGP, sailing with a definitive edge over pre-race favourite Nathan Outteridge and his Japanese team.
SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts said: “A huge congratulations to Tom, Nathan and their teams. It has been a fantastic event and I want to say thank you to Sydney for supporting the event. It has been a great venue to launch SailGP.”
The next stop for the inaugural SailGP series is San Francisco on 4-5 May, followed by New York (21-22 June), Cowes on the Isle of Wight (10-11 August), and Marseille in the south of France (20-22 September) for the finale.
