The Cádiz clash between Spain and Canada, which was labelled ‘payback for Saint-Tropez’, has been unpacked by both teams’ drivers.
The incident, which occurred on the fourth leg of the second fleet race, saw Canada initially look to follow the USA to round the left mark. But at the last moment, Canada turned towards the right mark, catching Spain off guard.
Speaking after racing, Spain driver Diego Botin said: “We were coming to do a right turn and the Canadians had no-one to leeward so we felt that they were not going to take that turn and it surprised us."
The move, Robertson said, was an attempt to ‘attack the boat in front and defend the boats behind’.
He added: “Classic Spanish - they just tried to stick it in there and we had to avoid a big collision’.
Spain picked up an on-water penalty for the infringement, which did not surprise Botin. “We knew we were gong to get the penalty and we took it as soon as we were clear of the mark,” he said.
However, Botin's team was also docked four event points for hitting the mark and causing damage to the Spanish F50.
It comes after Canada was heavily punished for a collision between the two boats in Saint-Tropez. Canada was handed an 8 event point penalty and 4-point deduction from its season score, while Spain was cleared.
Speaking at Cádiz’s press conference, Robertson said the incident ‘really hurt’ the team’s season score, but argued Canada has made a ‘respectable’ season start.
The team, he said, is ‘sailing really well and happy with where we’re at’. “We know every team here has the capability to have an absolute shocker - for us it happened in Saint-Tropez.”
Racing resumes at 15:30 CEST on October 15.
