New Zealand currently leads the Rolex Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix with 31 points after winning two of four fleet races on the opening day. Northstar Canada and Australia are close behind with 28 and 27 points, respectively. The home team, US SailGP Team, finished seventh overall on the first day.
The event adopted a ‘Super Saturday’ format with all 12 international teams competing in 4 races.
The Aussies got off to a poor start in Race 1 with weed on the foil and a resulting 10th place. Fortunately they followed that up with a 3,1,3 scorecard. Mubadala Brazil nearly won their first ever fleet race (in race 3), but Australia overtook them at the final mark. Tom Slingsby described the close finish with Brazil as exciting for fans but scary for the team.
Peter Burling from New Zealand expressed satisfaction with their performance but noted areas for improvement.
Taylor Canfield from the U.S.SailGP Team highlighted the excitement of representing their country at a home event.
The French team, supported by new investor Kylian Mbappé and partner L’Oréal, won the fourth fleet race and finished fourth overall on day one.
ROCKWOOL Denmark was ruled out due to significant damage after hitting a bottom mark and received a 12 event-point penalty.
The Rolex Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix continues tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. Sydney AEST time.
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