Emirates Great Britain’s tweaked starting strategy resulted in the team topping starting metrics in Saint-Tropez’s fleet racing.
Ben Ainslie’s crew, together with Peter Burling’s New Zealand, had the highest overall Mark 1 position in Saint-Tropez - an average of 3.8 in fleet racing.
Key to this was Emirates GBR’s swiftness to cross the line after the gun. Data provided by the league’s 10-strong F50 fleet shows the team took an average of just 2 seconds, which meant the Brits were the quickest of the fleet.
Emirates GBR was top when it came to positioning, with Ainslie’s team positioned an average of 17.7m from the line at the gun. However it was Erik Heil’s Germany which made the speediest starts - picking up an average starting speed of 43.7 km/h, while Emirates GBR had a middle-of-the-pack speed of 35.5 km/h.
The Brits’ excellent starting performance saw them top the leaderboard after fleet racing and proceed into the three-boat Final in first position.
At the other end of the spectrum, Diego Botin’s Spain had the worst Mark 1 position - an average of 7th despite the team making it into the three-boat Final and finishing the event in third.
Australia meanwhile took the longest to cross the start line after the gun - an average of 5.3 seconds, while the Danes made the slowest starts, with an average starting speed of 34.1 km/h.
When it came to positioning, Sebastien Schneiter’s Switzerland had the worst starts, and was positioned an average of 47.8m away from the line at the gun.
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