June 17, 2023
2 minutes reading time
View of the fleet as they sail past the Chicago skyline on Race Day 1 of the Rolex United States Sail Grand Prix | Chicago at Navy Pier, Season 4, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. 16th June 2023. Photo: Simon Bruty for SailGP. Handout image supplied by SailGP
SailGP: Untouchable Australia sits on top of the leaderboard as Season 4 gets underway in Chicago
Australia has burst into Season 4 with a bang, finishing the first day of racing on Chicago’s Lake Michigan at the top of the leaderboard with two race wins.
The Aussies’ effortless performance saw them sail through the fleet and rebound from a catastrophic error on the start line of the second race to pick up a total of 26 points after three fleet races.
Australia’s stunning start to the new season comes less than two months after it picked up its third consecutive Championship win in San Francisco and proves them once again as the team to beat.
Sitting just one point behind Australia is Peter Burling’s New Zealand, which picked up a consistent 4-2-2 racing record across the three fleet races and went head to head with the Aussies in a near repeat of the pair’s fight to the finish in San Francisco’s Grand Final.
Meanwhile, Phil Robertson’s Canada executed near perfect starts to finish the day in third place overall, repeating their strong performance on Lake Michigan last season.
Newcomer Germany had a drama-free first day of racing, finishing with an 8-8-7 record. Despite the results, the Germans impressed critics with their F50 racing debut, sitting mid-pack for most of the day and even reaching fourth place position in the first fleet race of the day.
But it was a shaky season start for Quentin Delapierre’s France, which was widely considered the standout team of Season 3. The team was inconsistent, finishing with 7-3-9 results.
Despite leading at Mark One in the third fleet race of the day, the French fluffed a maneuver and spectacularly fell off the foils – an unforced error that was met with a scream of frustration from Delapierre. The mistake opened the door to the Aussies, who soared through to pick up their second race win of the day.
It was another disappointing performance for home team the United States, which finished the day in ninth behind Erik Heil’s Germany. The team failed to recover from mistakes and fell back in the pack, finishing with a 9-10-6 race record.
Racing resumes at 4pm CDT on Saturday 17 June. Please CLICK HERE for a full live stream of the Race Day 2 action, or visit SailGP’s How to Watch page for broadcast information for your region.
Text and images courtesy of SailGP.com.