Australia close in on spot in Sail GP final

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Australia close in on spot in Sail GP final

Australia are closing in on a spot in the SailGP grand final and the chance to race for $3 million after a solid first day on windy San Francisco Bay.

Australia sat fifth on the event leaderboard after the first three of five fleet races on Saturday, tracking ahead of the seventh-placed finish that will punch their ticket for Sunday’s grand final.

There, Tom Slingsby’s crew would compete with New Zealand and one other boat, seeking their fourth consecutive SailGP title.

France are on track to leapfrog Spain and claim that third spot after bouncing back from a ****** during Friday’s practice session and dominating the first day of the regatta.

Driver Quentin Delapierre nailed his start in all three races, sitting up on the foils seemingly constantly in the heavy air and setting the tone by winning the first race.

Already out of contention for the grand final, Great Britain finished the day in second place after coming in second twice, while Denmark rounded out the top three.

Traditionally stronger in lighter conditions, Spain were haunted by slow starts, especially across the first two races.

They need to finish the fleet races fifth or higher to confirm a spot in the final without having to rely on other results, but are currently in seventh.

After placing fifth in the first fleet race, Australia won the second by some 40 seconds, beneficiaries of a blistering start and the changeable wind blowing across the bay.

Australia reached speeds above 80 km/h and at one stage opened up a gap of more than 400 metres as they headed for the final mark.

But Australia’s third race was undone when they fell off the foils and slowed down below 30km/h attempting to tack around a mark.

The error left Australia to finish the race in eighth, thwarting what was shaping as another respectable finish.

Canada was at the centre of the day’s most dramatic incident in the second fleet race.

A logjam formed as France slowed to a crawl when they fell off the foils heading for the finish line and Canada unsuccessfully attempted to change directions to scrape home.

Instead, Phil Robertson’s boat collided with a soft marker on the finish line. The boat was able to contest the final fleet race.

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