In a thrilling and high-speed winner-takes-all Grand Final in SailGP’s Season 4 championship in San Francisco the sailors of Spain SailGP Team defeated league heavyweights Australia and New Zealand to win the series’ $2 million purse. Putting it together when it matters most, the Spanish victory was all about the start, which driver Diego Botin executed to perfection.
Unable to keep the smile from his face after winning, Botin enthused: “Beating the Kiwis and Aussies in the Grand Final here in San Francisco—it’s amazing. We’re over the moon. It’s been a big grind and we’ve been through a lot in this League. Last season we were last in the scores, and this season we win.”
With Australia hot on Spain’s heels for the duration of the Grand Final race, it was all down to moments before the final maneuver where the Australian lost critical momentum during a tack. The Australian team cited a technical error. “It was a normal tack, but somehow the board came off the lock,” Slingsby said. “We’ve done thousands of tacks this week and it hasn’t happened at all, then today it happened in the final $2Million dollar race. What do you do? It’s just unlucky.”
Despite the technical glitch, the Australians gave chase on the final short drag race to the finish, but the Spaniard’s secured the win by mere seconds.
Australia was the only team to secure multiple fleet race wins in San Francisco, securing three victories out of five total fleet races – proving their usual San Francisco form, despite falling short in the Final.
Slingsby continued, “Honestly, the team sailed the best we’ve sailed, almost ever, today. We had that mentality the whole race, even when we were behind, so I’m so proud of this team and the way they sailed. I’m honored to be part of it all.”
Following weeks of speculation about the viability of a Spanish team for next season, Botin’s standout performance on San Francisco Bay will have silenced a few critics – and attracted the right kind of attention to hopefully keep the team away from the chopping block come November.
And a nail-biting Final wasn’t the only drama on Championship Sunday – with Fleet Races 4 and 5 filled with their own excitement. While battling for berth in the Final, France SailGP Team misjudged a late tack at the weather mark and collided with Rockwool Denmark SailGP Team, which resulted in the French boat’s rudder breaking and leaving them unable to sail Race 5. The 12-point penalty (and 8 season points) all assured them a view from the sidelines of the Final.
Expressing his disappointment, driver Quentin Delapierre reflected: “Sometimes you prefer to stay at home, and today I think that was the case. At the last tack I just didn’t see the Danish and we crashed with them. We didn’t finish the job and that’s really painful for everybody on board right now. But I’m incredibly proud of what the team achieved, and I think the overall ranking will not show what we’ve done this season, particularly here where we had an unbelievable Saturday.”
Despite being the on-form team throughout the season, New Zealand’s third-place position proved what makes the winner-takes-all Grand Final as cut-throat as it gets. Driver Peter Burling said: “We’re all feeling the pain at the moment, but we’re really proud of the way the team has gone about their business. We’ll go back, reflect on that and come out swinging next season.”
Looking ahead to the 2024/25 Season, SailGP has confirmed that, for the first time ever, teams will get vital training at two pre-season training camps in Bermuda and Dubai, beginning in August and October, respectively. The training is considered essential for new and struggling teams, including the United States SailGP Team, which despite several strong starts finished the regatta ninth overall, a point ahead of the Swiss a point behind the German team, also relatively new to the league.
The 2024/2025 Season will begin with the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix presented by P&O Marinas on November 23-24, 2024, which kicks a busy calendar and the addition of a Brazilian team and the league’s first-ever South American stop.
