Ben Ainslie’s Emirates Great Britain overtaking Australia in the final moments of Saint-Tropez’s showdown to seal its first win since Season 2 has been highlighted by SailGP fans as their favorite moment from racing in France.
Members of SailGP’s fan loyalty program The Dock were quizzed on their standout moments from the event and agreed Emirates GBR’s 11th hour triumph was a key highlight.
Frauke Rottschy highlighted the ‘world class match racing from Ben Ainslie and Emirates GBR in the Final’, while Keith Richardson specifically enjoyed Ainslie’s animated hand signals as the Brits soared past - ‘Emirates GBR passing Australia with a little wave!’.
Elsewhere, fans pointed to the close racing and increased quality across the fleet, with Aaron Marshall highlighting the ‘three different winners in three different events’.
Saint-Tropez was packed with dramatic incidents, including the United States capsizing in practice, Canada and Spain colliding in the first fleet race and the collapse of New Zealand’s 29m wing at the end of racing on day one.
Jordan Atkins admitted the wing collapse was ‘terrible’ for the Kiwis, but added, ‘it takes some of the pressure off Australia for a bit’.
Angela Chrisholm meanwhile specifically enjoyed Canada driver ‘Phil Robertson’s reaction to the penalty when Canada bounced off Spain’.
However, there were plenty of other moments that caught the attention of fans, including ROCKWOOL DEN ‘going from hero to zero’ in the final fleet race and Spain appearing in back-to-back finals.
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