SYDNEY (Reuters) – Dylan Fletcher’s Britain prevailed over Giles Scott’s Canada in a thrilling final on Sydney Harbour to take the honours in the third round of the SailGP season on Sunday and extend the team’s lead at the top of the series standings.
Australia, with Tom Slingsby at the helm, had dominated the fleet races with three wins out of seven but were penalised for encroaching on the Canadians in the pre-start of the three-boat shootout for the title and were unable to recover.
Canada had a substantial lead turning into the upwind fifth of the seven legs of the final, but Britain overhauled them to edge ahead around Shark Island, and Fletcher held off his fellow British Olympic champion Morris to cross the line first.
It was Britain’s first event win since the Canadian round last season, when Morris was at the helm, and extended their lead over Australia at the top of the series standings to three points.
“Absolutely buzzing to get the win,” said Fletcher, who returned to the British boat this year having driven for the team in the first season of SailGP in 2019.
“We won the start but after that, you know, big mistakes. But a great race here and great for the spectators. I’m stoked.”
Morris was disappointed to have blown a big lead in the final but delighted to have steered his team onto the podium for the first time this season.
“I think we’ve had an amazing day today,” he said. “We’ve got to be super happy with the second place. But I’m certainly sat here right now with a few ‘what ifs’.
“We were obviously in a great spot with an amazingly big lead almost all of that race, but the British did a really nice job of picking up a pretty big mid-shift on that right hand side.”
Defending series champions Spain had a disappointing two days racing in the variable winds on Sydney Harbour but still moved into a share of third place in the standings, with New Zealand seven points behind Britain.
Peter Burling’s New Zealand boat, which won the season-opening leg in Dubai, recovered from a poor day one with second place behind Britain in Sunday’s first race and a win in the second.
It was not enough to get into the final but will give the New Zealanders a boost in confidence ahead of the fourth stop in the series in Los Angeles on March 16 and 17.
“It was a real shame to not score any points in those last two races yesterday, but it was awesome to see the way the team bounced back,” said Burling.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by William Mallard)
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