March 1 (Reuters) – The United States, led by Taylor Canfield, won the Sydney Sail Grand Prix on Sunday, securing their first victory since Cadiz in October 2023, while Australia’s Bonds Flying Roos failed to reach the event final for the first time.
Canfield’s crew executed a clean run into the opening gate of the three-boat final, moving ahead of Emirates GBR early and defending the lead to the finish. The reigning champions took second, while Los Gallos Spain — the most consistent team across the weekend — settled for third.
“We’ve been putting in the effort – we said we were going to stick to our processes and that showed. We’re getting better all the time and to get a win is huge,” Canfield told reporters.
“It was a tricky race track but we came into today with a really good plan. We knew we had to keep the pedal down, stay in clean air, stay out of the pack.”
“Our starting has always been pretty good in the lighter conditions, and we got off the line well, kept our heads out of the boat and did a nice job.”
Emirates GBR, helmed by Dylan Fletcher, opened the day with a narrow win in race five, squeezing past Spain after light winds compressed the fleet around the first gate and turned the final leg into a tactical duel. Spain’s second‑place finish extended their advantage at the top of the event standings.
In race six, the United States hit the mid-line cleanly at the start and led from the gun to take the win. Spain recovered from the back of the fleet to finish fourth behind Germany and Rockwool Denmark.
Denmark, skippered by Nicolai Sehested, claimed the final fleet race, while the United States and Emirates GBR secured the last two places in the final with fifth- and sixth-place finishes, while Tom Slingsby-led Australia were eliminated after placing 10th.
SailGP is an international competition featuring high-speed races in identical F50 foiling catamarans capable of speeds exceeding 100 kph (60 mph).
The league pits national teams against each other in a series of regattas held at iconic locations worldwide.
(Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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