Denmark SailGP Team recorded a historic first ever SailGP race win in the opening encounter of its homecoming race – the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix in Aarhus – on Friday.
The Danes, with skipper Nicolai Sehested at the helm, got off to a good start and battled all the way to the finish to narrowly edge the first ever SailGP race in Danish waters.
“Winning our first race in front of all of the Danish fans is a dream come true,” said Sehested. “We promised to put on a show for the Danish fans, and what a way to kick off this weekend!”
“We are of course delighted to get our first victory on the board, but I wouldn’t say we’re surprised… we’ve felt it coming for a while. We’ve been sailing well and pushing some of the more experienced teams in the last few events, and after a lot of hard work and patience, it’s great to see it finally come together on home waters.”
The Danes followed up the win with a fourth placed finish in Race 2, and a seventh place in Race 3, to leave them in fourth spot at the end of Race Day 1. Just three points separates them from the leading team, Australia, after the first day.
“We made a couple of small mistakes that I think cost us top spot overall, but we’re happy to be in a strong position for Sunday’s races, where we are still looking for our place in the final race.”
Aarhus Bay delivered challenging conditions for the teams, with shifty wind conditions causing confusion on the course, and leaving it all on for Race Day 2.
“We know the bay very well, so it’s not surprising to us that that wind conditions can be changeable, but we feel we could have done better in the final race. We’ll give everything to get into that final race on Sunday.”
The second Race Day of the first SailGP in Denmark ever takes place on Saturday from 13:00. The action can be seen on TV 2 and TV 2 PLAY.
