Sailing: France maintains its place in the top three for the Grand Final in San Francisco

France maintains its place in the top three for the Grand Final in San Francisco.

SailGP magic! The Canadians, who entered the final through the back door, snatched victory in the waters of their captain, Phil Robertson. The F50 Maple Leaf wins the Sail Grand Prix for the first time, not without resisting the attacks of the local Peter Burling team. The other lesson to remember, if it hasn’t already been learned: Never bury Australians! In yesterday’s difficulty, Slingsby and his clan slammed both qualifying regattas, winning a ticket to the final and finishing in third place. The French finished fifth in this New Zealand opus with a little frustration, but retained their spot (third) in the season standings less than two months after the result in San Francisco.

In Christchurch, we expected to see tension build between crews aiming for the grand finale of the season in early May in San Francisco. This second day of competition, contested in a lovely breeze of 12/14 knots, was the scene of this match-up for four teams: Australian, New Zealand, French and English. The Australians were initially so upset by their poor performance the previous day – due in part to clumps of seaweed stuck to their uprights – that they decided to remind everyone that they were indeed chiefs. Tom Slingsby and his collaborators will put on a show of strength, critique qualifying races, and battle it out in the final.
Discounts escalate

Hence it would be the Kiwis and the French who would put up a battle of great beauty in the first regatta of the day. The constant intersection of the two rivals in extremes will turn in favor of the black boat. The two F50s side by side are just a few lengths from the finish line. Downwind, the New Zealanders will take advantage of their priority position to lift the tricolor boat that stops for air as it moves away. Quentin Delapiere and his group finished third and are still in the running for the Christchurch final! But the British will do everything to stop them. Well-versed in the art of match racing, multi-medal Olympic winner Ben Ainslie didn’t hesitate to tickle the blue, white and red F50 on the starting line. The two rivals start at the back of the pack, with the French finishing seventh. Here’s a glimpse of what awaits these two rivals in less than two months in San Francisco. The Canadians finally took advantage of these minor matches, who were already very strong on Saturday in the Whakaraupō tournament. Supported by the presence of his family, Phil Robertson (of New Zealand nationality) fought like a lion to lead his team to victory, after a magnificent final in the form of a duel with the Kiwis. After a good start to the season last year in Bermuda and Chicago, followed by a decline in results, this is the first time that Canadians have won the Grand Prix of sailing.
See you at the Million Dollar Final

In the general classification of the season, apart from a few points lost or won in Christchurch, the hierarchy of the top 5 remains unchanged. The Australians consolidate their dominant position against the New Zealand Dolphins. The French held on to third place, one point behind the Brits… It’s going to be very hot and hot in San Francisco! They said: Quentin Delapiere, French SailGP team leader: “ It’s a tough second day for the team. We start off with a great first leg with a battle for second place with New Zealand who ended up overtaking us on the brink before the end. We were still in the final before the Brits came to pick us up at the start of the last regatta. We ended up with the two boats at the back of the flotilla. We expect this kind of situation for the San Francisco stage and we’ll have to be ready for it. It’s a bit disappointing on the second day! We were able to reach the final, but we didn’t know how to do it. It is up to us to question ourselves. The positive point is that we are still in third place overall. But nothing is certain because the English are only one point behind us. We will have the opportunity to compete for this place with the greatest sailor of all time, Ben Ainslie. It’s going to be pure fun and we’ve got to take it at that, out of the blue! In the end, even if the Sail Grand Prix was a bit difficult because there was no pre-training, the whole team went up a notch by forcing them to adapt. Not to mention Maëlle who was awesome”.

Maëlle Frascari, SailGP team strategist in France: “ A great experience that I wish I had the chance to reproduce! I loved the races, the team and the atmosphere on the ground. Manon and all the others helped me deal with this first experience. We trusted each other on the water. I have never sailed so fast. On Nacra 17, we reach a maximum speed of 30 knots. In the F50 the boat is more stable, but it’s a big machine, there’s a sense of power, and it’s all propelled by a crew that needs coordination, and that’s great. Hence, the madness in this circle are the spectators and the supporters. It’s the first time I’ve seen and heard so many fans cheering for us! »