The Singapore Sail Grand Prix marked SailGP’s first ever event in Asia and did not disappoint. Close to shore racing wowed crowds while fickle conditions challenged crews, resulting in boat-on-boat showdowns, dramatic penalties and leaderboard upsets. We round up five of the most exciting moments from the weekend.
1. New Zealand X USA contact in practice
The Kiwis started the event on the back foot after being found at fault in an avoidable collision with the United States in practice. As a result, New Zealand started racing with -4 points, leaving them with a mountain to climb to get into the final. But after picking up a 1-5-2-4 fleet racing record, the Kiwis cruised into the Final tied on points with the Aussies and left Australia and Denmark trailing in their wake to pick up the event win.
2. Great Britain moves up the leaderboard to third overall
It was a frustrating weekend for Quentin Delapierre’s France, which struggled in the light wind conditions and finished in eighth overall with a 7-9-4-6 fleet racing record. While Great Britain had a mid-fleet 5-3-5-5 fleet racing record, the French’s poor performance meant Ben Ainslie’s team moved up on the overall Championship leaderboard to third overall - ahead of France by just one point.
3. Denmark’s best result so far
Singapore marked the third final for Nicolai Sehested’s Denmark. The team came top of the fleet racing and came second behind New Zealand in the winner-takes-all final - their best result yet. The Danish now sit in fifth overall with 51 points- just three points behind Great Britain in third.
4. Switzerland wins first ever race
It’s been a tricky first season for newcomer team Switzerland but it started to pay off in Singapore, with the team picking up its first ever event win and following it up with a second place finish in the fourth and final fleet race. This meant the team finished in fourth overall - and just two points shy of a place in the three-boat winner-takes-all final.
5. New Zealand F50 struck by lightning
Singapore certainly wasn’t short of drama. New Zealand’s F50 was struck by lightning shortly after racing ended on Sunday - sustaining serious damage and resulting in the injury of Danish athlete Martin Kirketerp. Kirketerp has thankfully recovered, but the same can’t be said of New Zealand’s F50. The Tech Team are assessing the damage and could face a race against time to get the boat ready in time for the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix next month.
