SailGP grand final: Aussie Olympian hits out at Spanish rivals after near collision

The Aussies, who have already qualified for Monday morning’s AEDT grand final, narrowly avoided the Spanish team on the final turn of Sunday’s second race in San Francisco.

It led to Slingsby having a “few choice words” with Spanish skipper Jordi Xammar mid-race.

Technical officials handed Slingsby’s team a five-second penalty for the incident which saw them finish the race in fourth.

They had started the day with a second place finish in race one before coming third in the day’s final event.

Post-race the Olympic gold medallist spoke of the relief of the $1m dream remaining alive.

“That showed that he (Xammar) is a bit of a rookie to the fleet,” Slingsby said.

“In that scenario we would get a penalty if he holds straight but he decided to close the door and he almost caused a collision between the boats.

“(If that happens) then all of a sudden our boats are damaged, we get penalty points, he gets penalty points.

“It was very unnecessary. I let my temper fly a little.

“He apologised to me and said he didn’t really have much control at that point.”

The chance of collisions is expected to increase on the second day of racing with stronger winds forecast.

A change of wind direction, coming from the south, is also expected to wreak havoc on the water.

And Slingsby admitted the conditions are unlike anything he has seen in San Francisco.

“I lived here for two years and I don’t think I ever sailed in a south breeze,” he said.

“If you had 100 days it would be unlikely that you’d get one or two south (wind) days this time of year.

“It kind of makes it hard to prepare for.

“We’ve just got to have our wits about us and be ready to race and freestyle on the racetrack because anything can happen.”

At the end of racing day one, Australia sat in second place for the event but Slingsby said there was a directed focus on the grand final race against Japan and the US.

But said there were no plans to take a backward step in the final two fleet races.

“I would love to say I was racing more to protect the boat but I was going for the win every race,” he said on Saturday.

“I didn’t really hold back.

“I wish I was holding back and I had some more cards up my sleeve but I don’t.

“We’ve just got to do a better job tomorrow.”

Racing will resume from 8am on Monday morning AEDT.

‘WAR OF WORDS’ ERUPTS IN FIGHT FOR SAILGP CROWN

Australia remains on track to defend its $1m SailGP crown despite a serious training accident and war of words erupting with other competitors according to Olympian Tom Slingsby.

The Aussies missed out on Saturday morning’s AEDT official practice session after capsizing during a training run, a day earlier.

Slingsby said the boat’s wing had suffered “extensive damage” with crews working to ensure the Aussies would be on the starting blocks for racing which starts on Sunday morning AEDT.

Australia and the USA have already qualified for the event’s grand final of season two which will be held on Monday with the winners taking home $1m in prizemoney.

Thursday’s capsize was just the latest incident in a “tough” preparation for the Aussies as they narrowly avoided a major crash with the US.

Slingsby said the accident had occurred during the final moments of the training session.

“It’s not something I’m proud of - putting this team in this position,” he said.

“You look at the footage and there’s nothing really that stands out that we did really wrong.

“We’ve learnt a lot of little things about what went wrong and now we will be better off in that situation.

“We’ve created a hell of a lot of work for a lot of people.”

Fellow Australian and US driver Jimmy Spithall upped the pressure on the Aussie team despite their race against the clock.

He said his team are set to play the role of “underdog” behind Slingsby and Japan, who are led by another Australian, Nathan Outteridge.

Japan are yet to officially qualify for the grand final but are expected to comfortably.

“Tom is the defending champion. Nathan was also in the final and to be quite honest he had the $1 million in his hands last time. It slipped through and Tom got passed.

“I believe these two are the favourites. They’ve also done more time than anyone else in these boats.

“It’s no surprise to see these guys right up.

“I believe we’re the underdog but the rest of us are catching up to Tom.”

Despite the challenges they had faced, Slingsby was confident his team would be ready to go.

“I feel like we need a violin every time he (Jimmy) tells us how hard done by he is,” he laughed.

“I’d prefer to be in the position of favourite. The reason we’re in the position of favourite is because we’ve shown we can perform under pressure time and time again.

“I wouldn’t trade our position for anyone else’s.”

Racing will start at 8am on Sunday morning and will be shown live on Fox Sports and Kayo Freebies.

AUSSIE TRIO BATTLE FOR $1 MILLION SAILING MEGA PRIZE

Olympic champ Tom Slingsby will have to conquer tricky sailing conditions and put friendships to the side as three of Australia’s finest skippers battle it out for a $1m prize in the SailGP grand final in San Francisco.

In what is shaping as an epic finale to one of the world’s richest sailing events, Slingsby’s defending champions Team Australia have already qualified for the Sunday (Monday morning AEDT) final showdown of the season 2 SailGP after winning the Sydney leg last December.

United States, led by another Australian Jimmy Spithill, has also qualified for the final while Japan, who is skippered by another Aussie Nathan Outteridge, currently sits third in the rankings and is in the box seat to claim the last spot in the final during Saturday racing.

Slingsby and Outteridge both won Olympic gold medals for Australia at the 2012 Olympics, while Spithill is a two-time world champion and Americas Cup champion.

“Both of those guys are good friends of mine,” Slingsby said.

“I love competing against both of them and have tremendous respect for what they’ve been able to do in the sport.

“Unfortunately we can’t all drive for Australia and I’ve got the job they probably want.

“That adds a little more pressure on me but it’s a challenge I really enjoy.”

The key for Slingsby and Team Australia is to make sure they get to the start line for the final in perfect shape — but it could be tricky with five fleet races to be completed before the finale.

Conditions in the lead up to race weekend have proven difficult for crews, and although the Golden Gate Bridge provides a stunning backdrop for racing the high winds pushing through San Francisco Bay has tested crews leading into race weekend.

With his team already qualified, Slingsby said he is hoping for “very clean” preparations for his crew so they get to the final safely.

“It feels amazing to already be in the final, we’re in a really good place,” he said.

“Our training has been going well in the lead up which has been pleasing. San Francisco is very windy at the moment which can create some difficult racing conditions.

“It’s important we avoid any collisions before the final on Sunday.”

Australia enters the weekend as the team to beat having taken out season 1 of the event.

They’ve maintained their strong form throughout season two winning four out of the last five events.

That included a stunning win where they took out the Denmark event despite not winning a single fleet race across the weekend.

Slingsby, who is also the team’s chief executive, will be joined on-board by several others.

They include Kyle Langford (wing trimmer), Jason Waterhouse (flight controller and tactician), Sam Newton (grinder), Kinley Fowler (flight controller and grinder), Nick Hutton (grinder) and Nina Curtis.

Curtis is part of the sport’s Women’s Pathway Program (WPP) and debuted in the Spanish event last year with all teams introducing female athletes.

Those competitors will again race on San Francisco Bay as part of the sport’s strategy to drive inclusion and inspire change.

Despite Australia not being the “biggest names” in the sport according to Slingsby, he couldn’t be happier with how the team has been performed throughout the season.

“The talent in this fleet is second to none,” he said.

“I’ve worked with them for a long time and they continue to amaze me with how they continue to improve.

“They’re not the biggest names in sailing but they are unrecognised for just how good they are.

“It’s all about proving Australian sailors are right there among the best in the world.”

SailGP is a much different format of sailing according to Slingsby who has competed in events including the America’s Cup.

The hydro foiling F50 catamarans can reach speeds of almost 100km/h and are identical for all eight competing teams.

Information and technology from opposition boats is also available to teams throughout the weekend to give them a better analysis of what they are up against.

Slingsby described the fleet as the “coolest boats in the world”.

“They’re an amazing piece of technology,” he said.

“I’ve done all sorts of sailing in the past and nothing compares to what we have to work with in the SailGP event.

“The format of the event is going to keep bringing the best athletes in the world back time and time again.”

The Aussies have enjoyed several practice runs on the water throughout the week starting with flat conditions on Sunday.

“It was tough to gain any advantage over our rivals in speed,” Slingsby said after a training session earlier in the week.

More Coverage

Central Coast gun outsails Aussie rivals in SailGP

Amanda Lulham

SailGP gun Tom Slingsby’s bid to stay high and dry

Amanda Lulham

“I would say the British and the USA were strong, but we still stayed in the mix.

“Fans can expect some really close racing this weekend.”

The first day of racing is scheduled to get underway from 8am on Sunday morning AEDT.

Originally published as SailGP grand final: Aussie Olympian hits out at Spanish rivals after near collision