Ben Ainslie’s Emirates Great Britain SailGP team dominated on Day 1 of the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix | Portsmouth.
A sparkling day on the Solent presenting SailGP racing in perfect conditions, was overshadowed by the collapse of the the France Team’s wingsail shortly before the start of the first race.
The British team kicked off their home event in spectacular fashion, with a storming start and clear win in the first race. They went on to top the leaderboard with an impressive performance with finishes of first, second, third, and second in Saturday’s four fleet races.
Emirates GBR lead with 36 pts, second Switzerland with 30 pts and third Bonds Flying Roos AUS tied on 26 pts with New Zealand. Just two points off the leading group is Red Bull Italy with 24 pts and Spain with 20 pts.
The first race saw Dylan Fletcher GBR win ahead of Peter Burling’s New Zealand with Nicolai Sehested’ Denmark third.
The second race was a clear win for Sebastien Schneiter’s Switzerland with the Brits recovering from a poor start to take second with Ruggero Tita and Italy in third.
Race 3 saw a pattern growing with a win for the Kiwis with the Swiss second and Britain third, with Tom Slingsby bringing Australia home in fourth.
The final race of day 1 saw Slingsby finally crack the top three, to come home with a win ahead of Fetcher, with Ruggero Tita rounding out a great day in third again.
Racing continues Sunday with three more fleet races and the top three racing a winner-takes-all final.
