The top three teams looked ‘a class apart’ from the wider F50 fleet as full foiling conditions returned in Sydney, according to SailGP’s commentary team.
Dissecting all the racing action from Sydney, Todd Harris, Emily Nagel and Stevie Morrison reflected on the refreshed season standings, with Morrison describing the event as ‘pivotal’.
The return of fully foiling conditions after a run of light wind events showed the calibre of the three front ranking boats, he said.
“I think those conditions lend themselves to a pecking order - there’s a bit less chance when they’re up and foiling,” he said, adding that France, Spain, the United States and Emirates GBR ‘looked some way behind the top boats in those conditions’.
He admitted that France and Spain, now sitting 4th and 5th on the Season 4 leaderboard, still had a chance of making San Francisco’s season-deciding Grand Final - but this would involve ‘going to New Zealand and winning’.
Nagel agreed with Morrison that the event was ‘pivotal’, but for different reasons. “I think what was more telling was just how damaging the event was for some of our bigger name teams - the Brits and the Americans.”
Emirates GBR picked up a score sheet of 9-6-9-6-5, finishing 7th overall, while the United States finished 9th with 6-9-9-10-3 finishes.
Elsewhere, Phil Robertson’s Canada, previously a contender for the San Francisco Grand Final, finished in 10th after being unable to race for the first three fleet races due to technical issues on board.
Speaking after racing, Robertson said the tech troubles meant it would be ‘hard for to make the Grand Final’. “Not doing three races in this event meant we came in last place, so it’s a little tricky for us to make it into the top three.”
