Australia and Japan SailGP teams confirmed that they will be face-off Sunday for the US$1 million prize pot at the Marseille SailGP Season 1 Grand Final.
No suprises on day 1 of the opening day where Tom Slingsby skipper of Australia and Nathan Outteridge skippering Japan, went head to head on the Rade Nord racecourse, trading wins to secure their places in the title race of the season.
Outteridge’s Japan SailGP Team came out fighting, winning races one and three, and showing an aggressive side that has not been witnessed this season.
Inflamed by race one’s outcome that saw Outteridge hold Slingsby back at the start, the Australian team came back for a spectacular win in race two, getting the better of the Japanese team, who finished in fourth place.
In the day’s final race it was back to a Japan, Australia one-two, keeping the leading pair 47 points clear of Dylan Fletcher’s Great Britain SailGP Team who climbed into third place.
Great Britain had a good day with a third place in the first race, second in race 2 and another third place in race 3, and increased the gap from the United States and China teams.
In fourth place is Rome Kirby’s American team who retired from racing in race 2 due to technical issues with a foil. They returned for race three, where they finish sixth.
China hold fifth place, tied on points with the USA, and in sixth are France.
SailGP’s Season 1 Grand Final continues with three more fleet races planned for Saturday and two fleet races and the final match race scheduled for Sunday, with windier conditions expected.
Marseille SailGP Season 1 Grand Final – Overall after 3 races
1st Australia – Tom Slingsby 9, 10, 9 – – 197 pts
2nd Japan – Nathan Outteridge 10, 7, 10 – – 192 pts
3rd Great Britain – Dylan Fletcher 8, 9, 8 – – 145 pts
4th United States – Rome Kirby 5, 4, 5 – – 137 pts
5th China – Phil Robertson 6, 8, 6 – – 137 pts
6th France – Billy Besson 7, 6, 7 – – 135 pts
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