San Francisco (USA), May 8 (EFE).- The Australian team, led by Tom Slingsby, has been proclaimed absolute winner of the third season -it had already won the first and second- World Sail GP of F50 catamarans with ‘foils’ (hydrofoils), beating New Zealand by 6 seconds and Great Britain by 23 seconds in the Grand Final held in San Francisco.
The Australian team has also prevailed in the eleventh and final round of the season, held on this same stage, beating Great Britain, led by the legendary Sir Ben Ainslie, and Denmark, skippered by Nikolai Sehested.
In this last test, the Spanish team, led by Diego Botín from Cantabria, hit rock bottom, finishing last, which also placed them as bottom of the season overall.
The Australian victory has given way to the Grand Final, with a million dollars at stake, although it was already classified in advance along with New Zealand, second overall, and Great Britain as third.
The start has been an incredible battle between Australia and New Zealand, led by Peter Burling, leaving Great Britain behind, although Ainslie’s genius has led him to overtake New Zealand at the end of the third leg of the route and go hunting for the Australians, who have resisted.
New Zealand recovered and moved back up to second just before the final stage, putting pressure on the Australians, but Slingsby controlled the situation well to lead them by six seconds at the finish.
The Australians have formed with Tom Slingsby as skipper, Kyle Langford (wing sail trimmer), Jason Waterhouse (flight controller), Kinley Fowler and Sam Newton (grinders) and the young Tash Bryant, 21 years old and sailor of the Year in 2020, as a strategist.
As for Spain, it should be noted that in the five rounds played in San Francisco they have been last in two and penultimate in three, thus closing a stormy campaign with too many changes and a terrible balance. In the eleven tests held throughout the season, she has been last in four, penultimate in three and third from last in another four.
The Spanish team, which has made three changes, has formed with: skipper/helmsman, Diego Botin; wing sail trimmer, Florian Trittel; flight controller, Joel Rodriguez; grinders, Stewart Dodson (NZL), Bernardo Freitas (POR) and Joan Cardona; strategist, María Cantero, and Australian James Wierzbowski (AUS) as coach.
United States Grand Prix Final General Classification:
.1. Australia Tom Slingsby (AUS) 10 points.2. Great Britain Ben Ainslie (GBR) 9
.3. Canada Phil Robertson (NZL) 8.4. Denmark Nicolai Sehested (DIN) 7.5. New Zealand Peter Burling (NZL) 6.6. France Quentin Delapierre (FRA) 5 .7. Switzerland Sébastian Schneiter (SUI) 4.8. USA Jimmy Spithill (AUS) 3.9. SPAIN Diego Botin (ESP) 2
Final General Classification Sail GP Circuit 2022-2023 (After the Grand Final):
.1. Australia Tom Slingsby (AUS) .2. New Zealand Peter Burling (NZL).3. Great Britain Ben Ainslie (GBR).4. France Quentin Delapierre (FRA) .5. Canada Phil Robertson (NZL) .6. Denmark Nicolai Sehested (DIN) .7. United States Jimmy Spithill (AUS) .8. Switzerland Sébastian Schneiter (SUI) .9. Spain Diego Botin (ESP)
