The opening event of SailGP Season 4, was unveiled at the Rolex United States Sail Grand Prix at Navy Pier in Chicago on Friday 16 June.
All ten National teams were competing for this first event of the new 2023/2024 season, and after the cancellation of paractice for some of the teams, everyone was getting a little nervous.
Sailing is a difficult sport to broadcast for the media, particularly short time-span events such as the two day SailGP events.
They have to produce the action on-time and within a small media window, and all dependent on the local weather conditions being suitable for it actually to take place!
If you want to see what can happen take a look at the International Moth World Championships taking place at Weymouth, UK, this week . . .
After five days they have managed two scoring races and are against the clock to get a valid series completed over the weekend.
But here in Chicago on Day 1 we saw some slick team-work to turn the races round, and of course some decent breeze . . .
Race 1 to Australia with Tom Slingsby controlling things from the line. Ben Ainslie had a good strat to evntually take second and Canada of Phil Robertson taking third ahead of the Kiwis.
Race 2 and it was all change when Slingsby blew the start and it was Robertson and Canada that took the lead all the way to the finish.
Second was Pete Burling and the New Zealand team, with France and Quentin Delapierre in third. Australia finished fifth and Britain seventh.
Race 3 was another win for Australia with New Zealand claiming second and Denmark of Nicolai Sehested a great third place.
Ben Ainslie and his GBR Team lost their way after the first race, a 7 and 8 dropping them to fifth overall and all to do on Saturday.
It looks a steep road back, with Slingsby in the driving seat once again and Burling and Robertson keen to take their chances in the crowded field.
