Home

Slingsby's Aussies lead SailGP regatta

Bernie WilsonAAP
The Tom Slingsby-led Team Australia lead the SailGP regatta in Denmark after the first day's racing.
Camera IconThe Tom Slingsby-led Team Australia lead the SailGP regatta in Denmark after the first day's racing. Credit: AP

The Tom Slingsby-led Team Australia had two seconds and a fifth to take the lead on the opening day of racing at SailGP's Denmark regatta on Aarhus Bay.

The defending champions hold a one-point advantage over arch-rivals Britain, skipped by Bens Ainslie, after Friday's three fleet races.

Australia lead Britain 18-17, with Jimmy Spithill's US crew third on 16 points.

They are followed by Denmark (15), New Zealand (14), Japan (13), France (six) and Spain (zero). Spain's foiling 50-foot catamaran capsized an hour before the start of the first fleet race and was too damaged to compete.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

After two more fleet races on Saturday, the top three teams advance to the podium race.

"I'd say today was about as tricky as you could get," Slingsby said, mentioning wind shifts of 30 to 40 degrees. "It was a game of snakes and ladders.

The Game AFL 2024

"We had some races where we were a long way back and had some awesome comebacks. We are really happy to get out of today with some good results, and we're stoked to make it to the top of the leaderboard, despite not winning any of the fleet races."

The Aussies won the previous regatta in Plymouth, England, after finishing an uncharacteristic last in a regatta in Italy in June. They won the inaugural title in 2019 and the $1 million winner-take-all prize.

Nicolai Sehested helmed the hosts to their first-ever SailGP race win in the opener. The United States won the second race and the British won the third.

Ainslie is back in charge after missing the last two regattas to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. The British also had finishes of fourth and fifth.

The US team, with Australian yachtsman Spithill at the helm, also had finishes of seventh and third.

Spithill was pleased with the results, particularly after having to sub in Jason Saunders at the key position of wing trimmer after Paul Campbell-James broke his right leg after being thrown out of the cockpit and landing on the wingsail when the boat popped out of the water during a high-speed manoeuvre in a practice race on Thursday.

Saunders "was impressive," Spithill said. "He came in last night, jumped in with no training, no practice and slotted in nicely. Quite a difficult race track, it was a minefield and everyone had an opportunity but it made for exciting racing.

"Each race we're getting stronger and we'll see how we stand tomorrow. We're going to have some fun," said Spithill, a two-time America's Cup champion.

The American team was knocked out of the season opener in Bermuda when they were hit by the Japanese boat. They were leading the podium race in the last regatta before rudder damage knocked them into third place.

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails