Australia driver Tom Slingsby has reflected on the team’s stunning first day performance in Bermuda, saying they felt like ‘the Australia of old’.
The opening day saw a remarkable comeback for the Aussies, who bounced back from a disastrous event in Christchurch when Australia was docked an eye-watering 8 season points for hitting a race mark. This resulted in the Aussies losing the season lead and significant damage sustained to their F50.
But none of that seemed to matter when racing got underway in Bermuda. The Aussies executed perfect maneuvers and commanding starts to finish at the day at the top of the leaderboard with 1-1-3 results.
“We had great starts and were hard to catch,” Slingsby said after racing. “We sailed really well, it was picture perfect conditions and we were just happy all day - it was one of those good ones” he said.
He starting strategy remained unchanged, he said, but the team nailed the ‘execution’. “Boats seemed to part around us, we had all these room and three really good starts.”
Racing will continue at 14:00 ADT on May 5, with two more fleet races before the top three ranked teams proceed into the winner-takes-all Final.
