Spain clinches San Francisco SailGP win as Australia weathers wing failure at start of final race
SAN FRANCISCO — Spain's victory in the Oracle San Francisco Sail Grand Prix makes Diego Botin's team the fifth winner in the five events we've seen so far in Season 5.
However, Australia's wingsail shattering into pieces in the last few seconds before the start of the final 11-boat fleet race was a heart-in-mouth moment for the crowds watching from the San Francisco shore, not to mention for the sailors themselves. Never were they more grateful for their crash helmets and impact vests.
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'A scary situation,' said the usually unflappable Aussie driver Tom Slingsby moments after the incident. 'When something like that happens, all you think about is hoping everyone is going to get through this. Fortunately, we're all safe. That's the first priority. Now we're just going to try to save the boat as best we can. A big salvage operation happening here.'
Wing failure onboard Australia 🤯
Happy to account for no injuries onboard, the cause of the incident is not yet known #SailGP pic.twitter.com/tw0YrZo72O
— SailGP (@SailGP) March 23, 2025
Unlike the hapless Danes, whose self-inflicted damage from last weekend's event in Los Angeles meant they were unable to repair the boat in time for San Francisco, there is at least a six-week gap before the next SailGP event in Rio de Janeiro. So the Australians should have ample opportunity to get the wing and the boat repaired in good time.
Struggling to get his head straight after such a calamity, Slingsby could barely take in the good news when he learned that, despite their disaster, the Australians move to the top of the season leaderboard. 'I got to my phone and the first message was from my dad saying, 'Sorry to see everything that happened, but you're now on top of the leaderboard.' I don't really know how that works, but anyway, a lot to process right now.'
It turns out Slingsby Sr. is correct, though. The results of San Francisco have shuffled around the top of the leaderboard and tightened up the points, too. Australia has displaced Great Britain from the top by a single point, with Spain's victory elevating it into third place, just 3 points off the lead. New Zealand is a single point behind Spain with Canada just another point back in fifth.
France, in sixth overall, would have further closed the gap on the front-runners had Quentin Delapierre been able to capitalize on a barnstorming start in the three-boat final. The French were only there because broken Australia was unable to make the final. As a gesture of goodwill, team boss Bruno Dubois offered the use of the French boat to the Aussies, but there simply wasn't the time to make that happen within the strict confines of the broadcast window.
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Across the two days, Delapierre executed great starts and showed excellent downwind speed, but upwind the French were a click slower than their Canadian and Spanish rivals in the three-boat final. France continued to lead on the first upwind leg as it kept a close eye on Canada in towards the San Francisco shore. However, Botin opted for the opposite turning mark on the Alcatraz side of the course.
From the outside, the Spanish move simply looked like a classic example of rolling the dice and trying something different from the leaders. But after the trophy and champagne spraying in front of the crowd, Botin told The Athletic that opting for Alcatraz had been part of the pre-race strategy. 'We saw in the previous races that the Aussies made a huge gain on us by taking that turn,' he said. 'Joan (Cardona) our tactician spotted that there is good current on that side at the bottom of the course. So I think the (favorable) current helped, and it was also the best course for connecting the dots further up the track.'
This was a confidence-boosting victory for the Spanish, whose winning form from Season 4 has somewhat eluded the tight-knit team at recent events. They have re-established themselves as serious contenders for another season victory. The British, on the other hand, suffered a wobble this weekend.
🪄El ultimo truco de Los Gallos para remontar en la final y poner rumbo a la primera victoria de la temporada.#SanFranciscoSGP #SailGP #SailGPESP #VamosGallos #Adrenaline #Sailing #Racing pic.twitter.com/DNU5m8BoCW
— Spain SailGP Team (@SailGPESP) March 24, 2025
Dylan Fletcher has looked unstoppable since inheriting the driver's role from Giles Scott after his departure to Canada. After missing out on the three-boat final by a single point last weekend in Los Angeles, the British were nowhere close in San Francisco. They finished in seventh place, 11 points behind the Swiss, who were enjoying their best event yet, and only a few points in front of the two rookie teams for this season, Italy and Brazil.
Even so, Fletcher refused to be downbeat about the slump in British fortunes. 'We always knew SailGP was going to be a bit of a roller coaster,' he said. 'I think that if someone had said at the start of the season, we'd be five events in and a point off the lead, we'd have snapped their hand off.'
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Finishing at the back of the fleet was the U.S. team that continues to struggle to make up ground on its more experienced rivals. Taylor Canfield and his teammates had spent the days in between the two race weekends working hard and being put through their paces at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center in Santa Monica. Canfield said it had been an eye-opening, inspiring few days, but what the Americans need more than ever is more time training on the F50 boat. They have a long, hard road ahead of them.
(Photo of Australia's boat courtesy of Simon Bruty for SailGP)
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