Phil Robertson yesterday steered Team Canada to its first SailGP victory by recovering from a penalty late in the podium race in Christchurch to deny Peter Burling and Team New Zealand a victory in home waters.
Robertson, himself a New Zealander, sailed his foiling 50-foot catamaran aggressively in the three-boat final to win the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix, the penultimate regatta of tech tycoon Larry Ellison’s global league.
Two-time defending SailGP champion Team Australia, which finished third in the podium race, and Team New Zealand remain 1-2 in the season standings heading into the final regatta in San Francisco on May 6-7, which will conclude with a US$1 million, winner-take-all Grand Final among the top three boats.
Photo: AFP / Ricardo Pinto / SailGP
The victory was huge for Canada, which is in its first season in SailGP. The Canadians reached the podium races in the season’s first two regattas, but did not reach another final race until yesterday.
Their wingsail was smashed and the platform damaged during an intense storm that hit just after racing concluded in the previous regatta in Sydney on Feb. 18. The rest of that regatta was canceled and the damage was repaired in time for this regatta.
The Canadian crewmembers whooped and hollered as their catamaran held off the Kiwis heading into the finish line and then had their first onboard champagne celebration.
“It’s awesome. I’m so stoked to win at home,” said Robertson, who sailed in front of several family members. “It’s super, super special for me. I’ve got good mates on the shore. I haven’t raced here before so I’m pumped. For Canada, it’s just amazing. This team is pretty new and pretty fresh, and we’ve been working hard to be competitive with all these top teams. Today’s just an example of what we can do when we put it all together.”
Australia, skippered by Olympic gold medalist and former America’s Cup champion Tom Slingsby, leads the standings with 84 points. The Aussies are to sail for a third straight US$1 million check, barring serious damage to their catamaran or a major penalty.
The Kiwis are second with 73 points. France is third with 69 and Emirates Great Britain is fourth with 68. Denmark has 60 and Canada 59 in the nine-boat fleet.
Slingsby, in fifth place after Saturday’s three fleet races, won Sunday’s two fleet races wire-to-wire to earn a spot in the podium race. Canada squeaked into the podium race by one point over Britain.
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