Australia has secured a three-peat in the SailGP championship, bettering New Zealand and Great Britain in Monday morning’s winner-takes-all grand final in San Francisco.
It was a resounding victory from the Aussies, led by Tom Slingsby, who pocket AU$1.4 million in prizemoney after dominating the weekend with three wins in five fleet races.
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Great Britain and New Zealand were no match for the sheer pace of Slingsby’s F50 foiling catamaran, but a late mistake in the grand final almost brought the Kiwis back into the race.
Australia’s 150-metre lead disappeared in a flash when they stumbled and lost speed before the last corner, with Slingsby’s catamaran falling off its foils — but the Aussies recovered before a dramatic dash towards the finish line, defeating New Zealand by just six seconds.
“I thought this could be the greatest choke of all time,” Slingsby said.
“That was not the plan, I thought we had lost it. We had it the whole way.
“That was crazy. I was very scared.
“You can win everything and lose the last race. What a race, what a team.”
Slingsby and his crew celebrated by showering each other in campagne while unfurling an Australian flag.
“We’re in the peak of our career and in the best moments,” Slingsby continued.
“When I’m retired in the future, I’m going to look back on this and just think this is best time of my life.”
“We know our purple patch, this run that we’re on is going to come to an end.
“We’ve just got to really enjoy this moment because our reign will come to an end and we’re going to be sitting there beating ourselves up saying ‘we used to be so good’.
“We continue to improve. We continue to find ways to beat our competitors. We’re going to go through some dark days ahead. I have no plans on leaving SailGP and I know I’m not going to retire undefeated.”
The Sail GP’s expanded fourth season gets underway in Chicago on June 18.
Sail GP Season 3 Standings
1st — Australia (104 points)
2nd — New Zealand (87 points)
3rd — Great Britain (85 points)
4th — France (75 points)
5th — Canada (67 points)
6th – Denmark (67 points)
7th — USA (56 points)
8th — Switzerland (33 points)
9th — Spain (31 points)
Sail GP Final sees Aussies in the mix | 05:13
