The aggressive match racing tactics of fleet racing and continued rivalry between Canada and Spain have been picked up SailGP fans as their favorite moments from Cádiz.
Members of SailGP’s fan loyalty program The Dock were quizzed on their standout moments from racing in Spain and agreed the moment Canada and Spain went head to head in the second fleet race was a key highlight.
Canada turned towards the right mark at the last moment, catching Spain off guard. Trapped by the Canadian F50 on one side and the race mark on the other, the Spanish scraped against the mark as they tried to avoid a collision, damaging their F50 in the process.
Keith Richardson highlight the moment ‘Canada shut out Spain at the mark’ as a key moment, while Blaine Garth Bernard agreed, ‘payback by Canada’.
Elsewhere, fans were delighted by the return of New Zealand to the racetrack and the aggression of fleet racing that resulted in plenty of close calls.
“The aggressive match racing on the first day was great - so good to see everyone pushing the limits,” Jordan Atkins said.
John Werner pointed to ‘the back and forth between the USA and New Zealand at the end of race five for a spot in the Final’, while Paul Smith agreed that the interaction between ‘New Zealand and Emirates Great Britain at the penultimate rounding mark’ was key.
This saw the Kiwis misjudge the speed and position of the British boat, which consequently trapped them and allowed the USA to cross the finish line first. It lead to a heated argument between the two boats. “The last mark rounding in the last fleet race with all the chaos,’ fan Alec Matthews said.
Elsewhere, fans were delighted by the Americans picking up their first event win of the season.
“They had a really tough time over the previous four events,” Daniel Gruhn said, while Avril Balmer added that driver Jimmy Spithill’s dedication of the win to injured flight controller Hans Henken ‘brought a tear to my eye’.
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