Tom Slingsby and Team Australia can rely on two points when they sail their Traveling Roo foiling catamaran on Sydney Harbor — raucous aid from their home enthusiasts and a quite fantastic chance of a victory.
The Aussies will go for a hat trick on property waters Saturday and Sunday in the Australia Sail Grand Prix, the 3rd-to-previous regatta of SailGP’s third season. Team Australia, the two-time defending champion in the worldwide league, has a nine-level guide in the season standings more than its rivals from across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand, with Britain’s Ben Ainslie an additional 5 details back again.
Even when the 9 50-foot catamarans are bunched collectively in fleet races, it will not be tricky for Aussie lovers to pick out the Traveling Roo mainly because of the huge yellow kangaroo on its inexperienced and black wingsail.
“Obviously becoming the Aussie crew the atmosphere’s a little bit additional electrical for us,” said Slingsby, an Olympic gold medalist and previous America’s Cup winner. “If we sail into the spectator fleet or in excess of near a boundary, the sum of people screaming and the roar of the group as we all gybe off the spectator boats soon after mark one particular, it’s seriously loud.”
The Aussies won on Sydney Harbor in the initial regatta in SailGP history in February 2019 and won there again in December 2021 in the pandemic-delayed 2nd time. Ainslie gained the unique Season 2 Sydney regatta but that consequence was voided when the period was postponed following the pandemic struck.
Slingsby grew up just north of Sydney.
“Sydney Harbor, everywhere you go you search you have obtained beautiful points, no matter whether it is Shark Island, the Opera Property, the Sydney Harbor Bridge, you’ve received the legendary harbor,” he stated. “It’s just such an wonderful party. Even if it was not my household function I’d be amazed if any person else in the other teams says it is not the coolest party going about.”
Right after two mild-air regattas in Dubai and Singapore, gained by the Aussies and Kiwis, respectively, the period wraps up in the windier venues of Sydney, Christchurch and San Francisco. The leading a few groups at the stop of the San Francisco regatta will sail in the $1 million, winner-acquire-all Grand Last. The Aussies have claimed the $1 million prize each individual of the to start with two seasons.
“We’re fired up that we acquired as a result of the hazard functions and now we’ve obtained some excellent ones to finish off and seriously for us to get started training our major-air sailing yet again prior to San Francisco,” Slingsby mentioned.
Crew New Zealand, led by two-time defending America’s Cup champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, have won a few of the very last 6 SailGP regattas.
Ainslie has achieved 4 podium races this calendar year but is however wanting for his first acquire. His squad is now recognized as Emirates Wonderful Britain SailGP Group following signing a 3-calendar year sponsorship offer with the airline.
“I like Sydney Harbor. It is my favourite sailing location wherever in the environment,” mentioned Ainslie, who gained the first of his four straight Olympic gold medals in the 2000 Sydney Video games. “I really like the obstacle of having on the Aussies on their dwelling patch.”
Crew Canada will be sailing a new boat, Spirit, that strategist Georgia Lewin-Lafrance christened with both Champagne and pure Canadian maple syrup.
“That tends to make it wonderful and slippery and quick,” skipper Phil Robertson quipped. “It’s absolutely a large amount shinier than the very last a person, so that’s good, which puts a smile on everyone’s deal with. She seems to be rapid.”
The sailors will have to fee the boat even as they follow for the weekend’s racing, “but we’ve acquired a excellent workforce for it,” Robertson included.
A new team this time, Canada reached the podium in the season’s first two regattas and is at the moment sixth over-all, nine factors out of general podium placement.
“We begun the time extremely properly and arrived out a very little little bit far too sizzling and established anticipations pretty substantial,” Robertson stated. “But we’ve completed some definitely excellent finding out the last couple of activities. I sense like the team’s ready to gain an event or two.”
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Adhere to Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson
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