ROCKWOOL Denmark sits in third position at the halfway point of the Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix, as back to back podium spots on Race Day 1 puts the team in the mix for the event final on Sunday.
The SailGP fleet – racing in Bermuda’s Great Sound for the first time in almost two years – enjoyed champagne sailing conditions in front of thousands of fans on shore and water on Saturday.
ROCKWOOL Denmark slowed over the start line in the opening action of the day, having to kill time after being early, bought fought back to claim a sixth spot despite being in the trailing pack at the all-important first mark.
However, a third place in Race 2 and an impressive second place in the final racing of the day, where ROCKWOOL DEN smartly luffed Australia on the final sprint into the finish, saw the Danes take third spot overall – joint on points with overall Season 4 leaders the Black Foils.
On the dramatic finish to Race 3, Sehested admitted: “It was a good finish to the day for us. We always love a good fight with the Aussies, but it wasn’t really a fair fight – we were always coming in with more speed on the overlap, ever since we gybed in.”
He adds: “We’re not too concerned about the Australians – that’s not our fight – but we’re desperate to post points on the chasing pack, so good for us to claw as many points as possible.”
With two fleet races remaining in Bermuda, Denmark sits in the driving seat for the event final – and Sehested explains that the ROCKWOOL team is focused on the task at hand.
“We’re happy, but we still have a lot of work to do. For us it’s all about getting points on the board so that we’re in a strong position going into Race Day 2 – we’ve done that, and now we have to go and put together some consistent racing on Sunday.”
The fleet is currently led by Australia SailGP Team on 28 points, with Canada SailGP Team following on 23 points – and ROCKWOOL Den and New Zealand sitting just a single point behind the leading pair.
Only nine boats took to the water for the Bermuda Sail Grand Prix, after United States SailGP Team suffered a dramatic capsize in practice racing – which caused enough damage to its wingsail to rule it out of the action this weekend.
Fans can tune into Race Day 2 at Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix by heading to sailgp.com/watch.
