In light winds off Navy Pier, New Zealand best mastered tough conditions in front of packed shorelines to win the season-opening Rolex United States Sail Grand Prix in Chicago.

Peter Burling led his team to victory over Tom Slingsby’s Australia and Phil Robertson’s Canada in the first three-boat event final of Season 4.

It was a day to remember for last season’s two bottom-placed finishers, as Diego Botin’s Spain and Sebastien Schneiter’s Switzerland won the day’s two fleet races. But the victories weren’t enough to get them into the final, which saw very light conditions – with the F50s in the 29-meter wing configuration – and a win for the Kiwis.

Rockwool Denmark SailGP Team opened the season with a solid fourth-place finish, one spot ahead of Botin’s Spain. France, Emirates GBR and Switzerland occupied positions six through eight, while newcomers Germany found it tough going in the conditions to finish tenth.

Sailgp Season 4 Championship Standings (after one event)

1. New Zealand - 10 points
2. Australia - 9 points
3. Canada - 8 points
4. Denmark - 7 points
5. Spain - 6 points
6. France - 5 points
7. Emirates GBR - 4 points
8. Switzerland - 3 points
9. United States - 2 points

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.

This weekend, there was an incredible comeback for the Canadian SailGP team to take the win at the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix.

The Canadians were the ones to watch, consistently moving up the leaderboard and challenging the hometown favourites.  Having overcome the huge setback following the severe weather incident in Sydney last month, the Canadians showed true resiliency and that SPIRIT was back in full force.

Racing got underway on Saturday afternoon in Lyttelton Harbour with picture-perfect conditions.  Fans lined the shoreline, dotted the hills and packed the event grandstands, which had been sold out for months before the event. 

The winning Canadian SailGP team in New Zealand: Phil Robertson / Driver, Chris Draper / Wing Trimmer, Billy Gooderham / Flight Controller, Tim Hornsby / Grinder, Tom Ramshaw / Grinde, Graeme Sutherland / Grinder and Isabella Bertold / Strategist

Consistent and strong starts for driver Phil Robertson and the crew, meant solid finishes (5,3,1) that translated to second place after day one. 

"It was obviously quite nice to win a race and we had a couple of good races before that as well. It was a tricky old day. We didn't really get any time to warm up, or even commission our new wing, so we were chucked in the deep end and we just hoped that everything worked and it seemed to go alright. We slowly improved during the day and came away with the bullet," said Phil after racing.

Heading into day two, it was critical that the Canadians stay ahead of France and Great Britain to ensure a place in the finals.  Phil and the crew did just that, finishing sixth and fourth, just what was needed to advance to the finals alongside the home team (NZL) and season leader's Australia.

It's been a few events since the Canadians were in the finals, but Phil and the crew onboard SPIRIT executed a near perfect final race, with fewer manoeuvres and averaging higher speeds than the Australians and the New Zealanders.  Phil's match racing skills came in handy and the Canadians maintained a steady lead throughout.  There was a heart wrenching moment on leg five, and a risk that the Kiwis would surge ahead, when the Canadians incurred a boundary penalty.  As it turned out, the penalty meant one less turn for the Canadians and they sailed clearly to the finish to win the first ever event for Canada!

Competing for the first time in his home waters, Phil said "It’s super special and I am so stoked to win at home!  For Canada it's amazing, we’ve been working hard and this is an example of what we can to when we put it all together." 

The team applauded SailGP Technologies' Herculean effort to get SPIRIT back on the start line after Sydney, without their efforts and those of the SailGP Tech Team, none of this would have been possible.  

Sights are now set on the Grand Final in San Francisco on 6-7 May.  

CREW LIST // ITM NEW ZEALAND SAIL GRAND PRIX - CHRISTCHURCH

• Phil Robertson / Driver
• Chris Draper / Wing Trimmer
• Billy Gooderham / Flight Controller
• Tim Hornsby / Grinder
• Tom Ramshaw / Grinder
• Graeme Sutherland / Grinder
• Isabella Bertold / Strategist

ITM NEW ZEALAND SAIL GRAND PRIX | CHRISTCHURCH  // EVENT RESULTS

1 // Canada   
2 // New Zealand  
3 // Australia
4 // Emirates Great Britain
5 // France
6 // United States
7 // Switzerland
8 // Denmark
9 // Spain

"It Was A Pretty Insane Situation". Driver of Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team Ben Ainslie has relived the moment grinder Matt Gotrel fell through the fairing of the British F50 on the first day of racing in Sydney.

The team was on the final stretch to the finish line of the first fleet race and travelling close to 50 mph when Gotrel fell through the fairing during a gybe.

While in the water, Gotrel remained attached to the F50 via his safety line. Fortunately, the Emirates GBR crew promptly stopped the boat and was able to pull Gotrel back on board. The team was even able to finish the race in sixth place.

Following the race, Gotrel was taken to hospital for a check up - he sustained muscular strain to his right hip and legs, and some bruising from the impact but was promptly discharged.

Speaking after racing, Ainslie described the incident as 'a pretty insane situation', adding that the first thoughts that went through his head were, 'oh my god, how are we going to resolve this one?'

A “severe weather system" after the Australian SailGP racing in Sydney caused significant damage to Team Canada’s wing sails. It has forced the cancellation of the two fleet races scheduled for Sunday.

The accident occurred while the Canada SailGP Team’s F50 catamaran was craning out. No one on the team was seriously injured, according to the team.

Given the extensive damage to several wings and the team’s F50, racing for today (Sunday) has been cancelled.

“As a team, we have really come together. We are very thankful that everyone is ok. It was a serious situation trying to get the wing out before the storm arrived. Everyone on our team was involved. Unfortunately, it came at a time which wasn’t ideal, and we had to scramble" said Phil Robertson, Driver of the Canada SailGP Team.

The storm wreaked havoc in parts of the city and left 60,000 people without power.

The team has been onsite all day evaluating the damage to the new boat, which was christened just two days earlier. Working closely with SailGP to deal with the 'unprecedented occurrence', the team will assess the impact this incident will have on the team in the future.

With three race wins yesterday, the France SailGP Team took the win for this event, while the Canada SailGP Team finished seventh overall.

CREW LIST // AUSTRALIA SAIL GRAND PRIX - SYDNEY

Phil Robertson / Driver
Chris Draper / Wing Trimmer
Billy Gooderham / Flight Controller
Georgia Lewin-Lafrance / Strategist
Jareese Finch / Grinder
Tim Hornsby / Grinder
Tom Ramshaw / Grinder
Graeme Sutherland / Grinder

SailGP's 10-strong fleet of one-design F50s is set to reshuffle ahead of racing in Sydney after New Zealand's lightning-struck F50 known as Amokura was deemed unable to compete.

The Kiwis' boat was being towed back to the Tech Site shortly after racing in Singapore when lightning struck the top of the 29m wing, causing significant damage.

An initial investigation found the lightning had 'exploded all of the electronics on the boat,' according to Tech Team Manager Brad Marsh. At the same time, the extent of the damage to the carbon fibre platform remains unknown.

As a result, the Kiwis' F50 will be shipped back home to the SailGP Technologies facility in Warkworth, New Zealand, to undergo further testing and repairs. This rules out the possibility of the boat being repaired to compete in Sydney next month.

In Sydney, the New Zealand team will instead compete in Boat 6 - the F50 previously used by the Japan team and currently in use by Canada. Canada, meanwhile, will take delivery of Boat 10, which recently completed construction in New Zealand and will be the team's permanent boat in the future.

New Zealand battled back from a four-point pre-event penalty to claim to dominate SailGP victory over Denmark and Australia on the final day of racing in Singapore.

The Kiwis left Nicolai Sehested's Denmark and Tom Slingsby's Australia trailing in their wake and wowed crowds with a 100% fly time, an average speed of 53 km/h and a top speed of 77.1 km/h.

It marks the team's third event win of the season, which started the event with -4 points after a collision with the United States in practice.

A bad manoeuvre by Aussies on the third leg of the race sent them to the back of the pack before Denmark crashed into the water at Gate 3 - allowing the Kiwis to extend their lead to over 100m.

Nevertheless, Australia's third-place finish marks another relentless performance by the Championship leaders, especially considering the loss of wing trimmer Kyle Langford to injury.

Denmark's second-place finish will be a welcome result for Sehested's crew, which last finished on the podium at the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix last August.

Fleet racing

Elsewhere, the second day of racing saw a vastly improved showing by Sebastien Schneiter's young Swiss crew, which picked up its first win in the day's opening race and followed it with a second place finish in the final fleet race. The crew, which benefited from excellent tactical decisions from strategist Nathan Outteridge, missed out on its first place in a Final by just two points.

The nine-strong fleet will next meet at the Australia Sail Grand Prix on February 18-19.

SailGP Championship Leaderboard

The driver and CEO of the Australia SailGP Team has opened up about his failure to secure any major sponsorship deals and claimed the two-time defending champions could be “on the chopping block” in the future.

Speaking on Shirley Robertson’s Sailing Podcast, Tom Slingsby reflected on the league’s decision to drop Season 2 runner-up Japan from Season 3 after the team failed to receive any financial backing.

Looking back at the beginning of SailGP, Slingsby said: “The orders from Russell [Coutts, SailGP CEO] was that at the end of the first five years, you’ve got to be commercially sustainable — we had targets.”

However, SailGP has “progressed a lot quicker than we expected”, he said, resulting in a glut of perspective, commercially independent teams approaching the league. "SailGP can’t build boats fast enough,” he said.

“I know the rules, Nathan [Outteridge, former Japan driver] knew the rules - we all do,” he said. “We’re all under pressure […] Nathan unfortunately was the first one to succumb to that pressure.”

Australia SailGP Team celebrate in Chicago in the summer of 2022 | Credit: SailGP

Slingsby opened up about his own struggles to secure financial backing for the Australian team, describing it as a “tough” task.

On the water, the Australia SailGP Team is dominating Season 3, sitting top of the overall championship leaderboard with 60 points and securing five podium finishes so far.

But in-between SailGP events, Slingsby’s “full-time role” is to secure sponsorship. “I can’t tell you how many thousands of hours I’ve spent trying to get sponsorship and I haven’t been able to do it yet,” he said, adding that his efforts have resulted in “some small sponsors” but “nothing major”.

“It’s extra frustrating because we’re getting such good results on the water and you wonder who wouldn’t want to be associated with the team that’s never had any scandals, never had any bad press — we go out there, we represent our country with honour, we’re good people, we’ve got great personalities on the team — why can’t we get sponsors?”

Despite the team’s on-water success, the Australia SailGP Team is not immune from being cut from the league, Slingsby said.

Australia SailGP Team racing close with the Great Britain entry | Credit: SailGP

He added that the team has been “saved” for “the time being” by the New South Wales government signing on as the official host venue partner of the Australia Sail Grand Prix in a three-season deal.

“Fortunately for us, Russell [Coutts] is viewing the Australian event and team as one, and the money that comes in as total, not separate,” Slingsby said.

Despite having the “luxury” of the three-season agreement, Slingsby said he by no means thinks he’s safe.

“We need to get some owners to buy the team or bring in some serious sponsorship dollars or 100% we’re on the chopping block,” he said.

However, he is optimistic about the future of the team: “We’ve got a lot of talks going on and a lot of great discussions with some companies — we just need some to drop and the future of the Australia SailGP Team will be sealed.”

Australia and the rest of the SailGP fleet are arriving in Singapore ahead of the eighth stage of Season 3 this weekend.

Tom Slingsby's Australia SailGP Team delivered one of the more remarkable victories seen in SailGP to dramatically overtake both France and Great Britain from what had seemed respective winning positions to storm back onto the winner's podium.

At the close of the Dubai Sail Grand Prix, Australia now leads the championship by nine points from New Zealand, with France one point further back, maintaining its position in the crucial top three placings. A good result from Great Britain in Dubai sees it just two points out of the Grand Final currently with four events left in the season, as the top four teams have started to pull away from the rest of the field.

But on the packed shorelines of Mina Rashid in front of sold-out crowds, the talk was all about Australia's come-from-behind win.

Earlier in the final podium race, France had looked to have wrapped up the win as it enjoyed a huge lead, but a tactical error of its own saw Australia and Britain reel them in.

SailGP's global championship continues to conquer new frontiers with the first-ever Singapore Sail Grand Prix, the next event on January 14 and 15, 2023.

Dubai Sail Grand Prix

1 // Australia // 10 points
2 // France // 9 points
3 // Great Britain // 8 points
4 // New Zealand // 5 points*
5 // Denmark // 6 points **
6 // United States // 5 points
7 // Canada // 4 points
8 // Spain // 3 points
9 // Switzerland // 2 points

In the closest-ever finish to a SailGP event, Quentin Delapierre led the France SailGP Team to a stunning victory by just three seconds over Jimmy Spithill's U.S. team to claim the team's first event win in SailGP.

The event win in Andalucía - Cádiz sees the French team rocket into the all-important top three of the championship standings after six events of Season 3.

The resurgence of Spithill's team continued as it made a second straight final and couldn't have been closer to a second straight event win.

Tom Slingsby's team struggled to finish a distant third in the final, but it was an improved weekend from the Australians who had missed the last two event finals. The team has also stretched its lead over New Zealand in the season standings to four points.

In one of the closest races in the history of SailGP, France converted a brilliant start under pressure into pole position at mark one

On an eye-catching but heartbreaking day for the Canadian team, Phil Robertson won both of the day's races, but it wasn't enough to overcome a poor day one effort and the newcomers missed the final by one point.

Quentin Delapierre marked his first anniversary as France driver by winning his first ever SailGP event, with a narrow three-second lead over the Americans on the Bay of Cádiz.

Neck and neck racing with Jimmy Spithill’s United States throughout culminated in a tense last-minute battle between the two crews, and France crossing the finish line with just three seconds to spare.

Tom Slingsby’s Australia, meanwhile came over the line in third after aggressive match racing tactics from the U.S. early on pushed the Aussies to the back of the pack.

In one of the closest races in the history of SailGP, France converted a brilliant start under pressure into pole position at mark one.

However, consistent boat speed and smooth manoeuvres from the U.S. saw Jimmy Spithill’s crew breathing down France’s neck throughout, leading to a brief overtake and the pair jostling for first place with just meters to the finish line.

Light winds and choppy waters saw the three final teams slim down to a four-crew configuration ahead of the Final, with Slingsby, Spithill and Delapierre multitasking tactics, steering and flight control.

Speaking from the water, Delapierre said ‘huge improvements' in the team led to the event win.

“Winning this sail grand prix on the four-crew configuration was a huge step for the team - there was a tight battle with the Americans and it was a challenge to keep our strategy clean.”

It followed a weekend of tense, tight-pack racing, with crews struggling to cope with a turbulent sea state and gusty conditions. However, France remained consistent throughout, picking up a 2-4-3-5-3 racing record and sweeping into the Final despite not winning a Fleet race.

The refreshed Championship standings see Australia extend their lead to 50 points, New Zealand in second with 46 and France entering the top three teams with 41.

The nine-strong fleet will meet again for the Dubai Sail Grand Prix on November 12-13.

Final results at Cadiz
1. France, 10 points
2. United States, 9
3. Australia, 8
4. Canada, 7
5. Great Britain, 6
6. New Zealand, 5
7. Spain, 4
8. Denmark, 3
9. Switzerland, 2