Australia and ROCKWOOL DEN bounced back from mid-fleet starting performances by passing boats and making crucial gains on their Mark 1 positions during Sydney’s fleet racing.
Data provided by the 10-strong fleet showed that both the Danish and Aussies were adept at boosting their Mark 1 positions into higher finishing positions.
Meanwhile other teams' promising Mark 1 positions slipped away, with teams moving backwards to finish at the back of the fleet.
ROCKWOOL DEN was one of the quickest to cross the start line after the gun - taking an average of 1.9 seconds - the same as Sebastien Schneiter’s Switzerland.
Australia meanwhile was one of the slowest - taking an average of 9 seconds. The only boat that was slower to cross the line was Emirates GBR, which took an average of 10.4 seconds.
Australia also had the slowest starting speed of the whole fleet - an average of 26 km/h. ROCKWOOL DEN was at the higher end of the fleet on this metric, picking up an average starting speed of 38.1 km/h, but even the Danish were way behind Canada which topped this metric with a speed of 50.6 km/h.
When it came to distance from the start line, Australia once again picked up the the second worst result - an average positioning of 72.1m from the line. Emirates GBR was last in this metric, with an average distance of 76.5, while ROCKWOOL DEN featured in the top half of the fleet with an average distance of 22m.
ROCKWOOL DEN’s average and Australia’s poor start line performances were reflected in the Mark 1 positions of both teams, with Australia rounding the mark in an average position of 7.4, while the Danish’s position was 4.4. With poor starting performances across all metrics, Emirates GBR picked up the worst Mark 1 position - an average of 7.5, while Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the United States all had the best Mark 1 position - an average of 4th.
But Germany, the United States and Canada all lost positions as they progressed through the fleet races - an average of 2.2, 3.2 and 1 respectively. In fact, the only team out of the top four at Mark 1 which managed to build on its position was New Zealand, which progressed an average of 0.4 positions to average a 3.6 finish.
But Australia demonstrated an incredible ability to bounce back from lackluster starts, boosting its Mark 1 position by an average of 3.4 positions to finish in 4th overall. ROCKWOOL DEN too built on its average of 4.4 position to finish in an average of 3rd.
As a result, ROCKWOOL DEN, Australia and New Zealand all progressed into the winner-takes-all Final, with the Danish winning fleet racing on points.
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