ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team took fourth spot on the opening day of SailGP
Season 4, as the 10-strong fleet of F50 catamarans raced in front of Chicago’s iconic Navy Pier.
The Danes debuted an eye-catching new black and red boat livery at the United States Sail Grand Prix on Friday, and the racing cert
Nicolai Sehested, driver at ROCKWOOL DEN, said: “We’re happy with our day – we’re in a good place going into Race Day 2, in touching distance of the podium, and we just need to put together two solid results on Saturday to give ourselves a shot at making the top three.”
To do so, the Danish team will need to overturn a three-point deficit on third-placed team Canada, and Sehested believes that it’s all on for the second half of action in the Windy City.
He adds: “We’ve seen in previous events that the key is to get through Race Day 1 in the mix and in good shape, and then take it up a gear Race Day 2. That’s what we intend to do tomorrow.”
Three-time SailGP Champions Australia SailGP Team started the new campaign in style, taking a pair of race wins to lead the rankings at half-time in Chicago. New Zealand SailGP Team and Canada SailGP Team make up the podium places.
Newbies Germany SailGP Team joined the SailGP ranks for the first time in Chicago, and Sehested was impressed by the performance of Erik Heil and his crew.
“I thought they did well, but I’m not really surprised, as they are very good sailors,” said Sehested.
“They have heaps of F50 experience on that boat, but even so, it takes time to gel as a team, so I thought they put on a good show for their first time out.”
“Adding a tenth team into the mix can make it pretty tricky and tight on the start and going into that first mark, but after that, things can open up pretty quickly,” said Sehested.
Racing resumes at 4pm CDT on Saturday, June 17. Please CLICK HERE for a full live stream of the Race Day 2 action, or visit our How to Watch page for broadcast information for your region.
