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How Australia’s SailGP Team Won a Nail-Biting Championship in San Francisco

The $1-million finale in sailing's fastest, most exciting league was australia's to lose. it almost did., michael verdon, michael verdon's most recent stories, superyacht sales dropped 17% last year. here’s why..

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Australia won the SailGP Grand Finale Cup and $1 million prize in San Francisco.

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But he didn’t: The Australians kept a narrow lead—a matter of seconds—and squeaked across the finish line in front of the Kiwis, with Great Britain finishing a distant third.

Australia won the SailGP Grand Finale Cup and $1 million prize in San Francisco.

Yesterday’s racing completed the third season of SailGP , a performance-based race league styled after Formula One, with teams from nine countries competing last season in 11 venues around the world.

The circuit traveled from Bermuda to Great Britain, Dubai, Australia and New Zealand and six other locations, playing to large crowds in each venue—but more importantly to the television and online audiences that founders Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison and SailGP CEO Russell Coutts, who led multiple America’s Cup campaigns for Ellison, hope will become a successful business model for sailing.

“It’s all about the eyeballs,” Jimmy Spithill, CEO and lead driver of the US team, told Robb Report, referring to developing a global fan base large enough to attract sponsors, advertisers and franchise owners for each team.

“This really does give us confidence in the property we are creating and shows the importance of developing a fan-centric broadcast offer with innovative technology,” said Coutts after the event.

But as it moves towards the season 4 opener in Chicago on June 16, the fledgling league will be facing a pivotal year. Ellison made a five-season commitment to bankroll SailGP’s original teams for about $5 million each per year, with the understanding that they be financially independent.

That means the teams will need to become profitable in the next two seasons—which could be a challenge, since billionaires typically finance sailing’s largest races like the America’s Cup. For the first time ever, the captains are also chief executives, responsible not only for racing but also the business side of each team.

“We’re focused right now on growth,” says Ben Johnson, SailGP’s commercial director for the Americas when asked about profitability. “We see a lot of promise. There’s nothing like SailGP from an experiential or family-friendly brand—and we’re tapping into America’s growing love of race sports. We see tremendous potential in our fan base here.”

Whether the league can grow the US fan base fast enough to turn the numbers into sponsors and revenue remains to be seen. The US team currently has Red Bull as a sponsor, and SailGP recently signed a ten-year agreement with Rolex as a league sponsor. SailGP has also added Los Angeles to New York, Chicago and San Francisco as a season-4 venue, giving the US the largest number of races. Canada will also have a race weekend, giving North America five out of 12 global events.

Australia won the SailGP Grand Finale Cup and $1 million prize in San Francisco.

“We basically built the brand from the ground up that year,” he says. But since then, the team has been “rotating through athletes” mostly because of injuries. That has led to inconsistent performance, says Spithill, especially considering training is limited to a single session before each race weekend. The team had only 20 total hours to train together last season. Such a limited time makes it challenging for any new sailor trying to learn these fast, technical raceboats. “Our future plans have to involve some sort of a training program,” says Spithill.

That’s echoed by new teams like Spain and Canada. “It’s actually really difficult to get quality time on the water,” says Phil Robertson, Canada’s driver and CEO, who has nonetheless had a decent season.

The league has coalesced into three to four teams at the top, mostly from countries with strong sailing cultures, with the newer, less experienced teams like Switzerland and Spain stuck at the bottom. A team from a new country will be announced later this year, according to SailGP officials, bringing the total to ten.

Since SailGP started, the roster has been fluid. Teams from Japan and China have dropped out, while others have signed on. At Friday’s press conference, the driver/CEOs from Spain and Canada were asked if they will have the financial means to continue next season. (Both politely dodged the question, saying they were focusing on this season.)

Despite the internal growth pains, the season finale in San Francisco was electric. The near-shore racing played to full bleachers of cheering crowds along the Golden Gate Yacht Club’s waterfront, while on large video screens, SailGP used a fast-paced feed of live shots from helicopters, photo boats and cameras on the raceboats, along with speed statistics, to capture the action. The league excels in presenting the racing visually, gearing it to a younger audience.

Over the weekend, there was also the drama that came with the racing: Great Britain’s Ainsley, arguably the most accomplished sailor in the league, versus France’s upstart driver Quentin Delapierre, both trying to secure a spot in the final.

Then there were Team USA’s struggles, New Zealand’s lackluster performance until the last day of racing and Australia’s dominance over the rest of the league. Along the way came crashes, near-misses and plenty of tactical maneuvering on the fast, flying raceboats. “The level of aggressiveness has really stepped up,” noted one commentator.

In the final, winner-takes-all $1 million race, it came down to the nail-biter finish between New Zealand and Australia. At one point, the Aussies had a 200-yard lead over New Zealand. “They just kept gaining and gaining,” recalled Australia’s Slingsby.

But in the end, with not much open water between them, Australia crossed the finish line ahead of New Zealand, setting up next season’s rivalry.

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Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race: Alive wins overall for a second time in five years

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - Alive - Duncan Hine (TAS) - Reichel / Pugh 66 - December 2023 - photo © Kurt Arrigo / Rolex

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On Some Boats for the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Three’s a Crowd

Smaller vessels with two-man crews are competing for the first time. But, thanks to their use of autopilots, they can’t win the top trophy.

sailboat race australia

By David Schmidt

There’s a beautiful simplicity to two-handed offshore sailboat racing: two sailors, one boat and a lot of blue.

For many offshore sailors, participating in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race aboard a fully crewed boat is a serious undertaking. But the 18 two-handed teams competing in this year’s edition of this 628-nautical-mile race are sharing an entire team’s worth of adventure — and responsibility — with just one other person.

In 2019, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, which organizes the race, announced a new two-handed division for the 2020 race. The decision was driven by a global surge in the popularity of short-handed sailing and the prospect of a mixed two-person keelboat offshore event at the Paris 2024 Olympics in Paris.

But the 2020 Sydney Hobart race was canceled because of the pandemic, and then the International Olympic Committee did not add the keelboat event to the Paris Games.

Still, the Sydney Hobart’s newest class has become popular and accounts for 19 percent of the 94-boat fleet at the starting line on Sunday.

“I am a big fan of the double-handed sailing concept, and it is great to see the Rolex Sydney to Hobart organizers embracing this side of the sport,” said Stu Bannatyne of New Zealand, an experienced offshore sailor who has won the Volvo Ocean Race four times. “The race for sure has inherent risks as we all well know, and double-handing it just means the crew needs to be very aware of the limitations of themselves and the boat.”

Wendy Tuck, a veteran of 13 Sydney Hobart races, is on a two-handed boat this year.

“I wanted a new adventure,” said Tuck, the only female sailor to have won an around-the-world race as skipper. Tuck is sailing with her co-skipper Campbell Geeves aboard Speedwell , a Beneteau 34.7. “It’s the smallest boat that I’ve gone south on,” she said, referring to Hobart. She added that while she has done a lot of short-handed sailing, she is still new to two-handed racing.

Rob Gough, a veteran of the 2019 race and an accomplished dinghy sailor, said it was the challenge that attracted him to two-handed racing. He and John Saul, a veteran of the 1998 race that killed six sailors and sank five boats, are sailing their Akilaria Class 40, Sidewinder.

“We both like being really involved,” Gough said, adding that with two-handed racing both sailors get to be “skipper, cook, trimmer, tactician, radio operator and navigator.”

Serious offshore sailors often say that races are really won during the boat preparation before the race. Two-handed sailing is no different, except that there are fewer crew members to tackle the details.

Given the race’s tough reputation, organizers require teams to complete qualifications, including first-aid certification, radio-operator training and survival-at-sea instruction. Aboard fully crewed boats, only some of the sailors need to complete this training. In the two-handed division, both skippers must fulfill these requirements, in addition to completing previous (and specific) offshore races and a 24-hour passage together on their boats.

Then there is the task of outfitting a boat to potentially withstand more than 50-knot winds and massive seas.

“The boat has done 30,000-odd miles of two-handed sailing, so it’s all set up,” said Rod Smallman, who is racing aboard Maverick, a Jeanneau Sun Fast 3600, with his co-skipper Leeton Hulley. This is Smallman’s second Sydney Hobart race and Hulley’s seventh. “Once it’s set up, it’s all tinkering and maintenance.”

One decision about two-handed racing equipment has been controversial.

Autopilot systems, which steer a boat to a specified compass course or wind angle, free the crew to trim sails, perform other duties or rest. Unlike fully crewed boats, two-handed teams can use autopilots in this year’s race.

However, the yacht club announced last year that two-handed teams would not qualify for the Tattersall Cup, which is awarded to the race’s overall corrected-time (handicap) winner. The two-handed division is competing for its own trophy.

“We need to better understand the level of advantage that autopilots might provide to yachts of differing types,” Noel Cornish, the club’s commodore, who officiates for the club, said last year. “The status and prestige of the Tattersall Cup in world sailing requires a thorough understanding of all the issues before any new division is granted eligibility.”

Not surprisingly, some two-handed teams were not pleased.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I was really disappointed that we’re not racing for the Tattersall,” Tuck said, noting that some crewed boats use powered winches to trim their sails and hydraulic systems to swing their canting keels. “But at the end of the day, I’m really happy we can enter as a two-handed boat.”

Smallman was also disappointed and noted that other international races allowed these teams to compete for the same top-shelf trophy as fully crewed boats.

Unlike human drivers, whose ability to steer a precise course typically wanes after 20 or 30 minutes, autopilots never tire. But Matt Eeles, product director for the autopilot manufacturer B&G, said that when sailing in big waves, autopilots were purely reactionary, not predictive, as they cannot see ahead or behind the yacht. “I think a human would outperform an autopilot in these conditions,” he said.

Some high-budget round-the-world sailing teams have recently developed autopilots that incorporate sophisticated gyro-stabilized compasses, secondary processing computers, custom software and sensor networks, but this is not the technology that Gough, Smallman and Tuck are using.

“It’s a bit rich to suggest that autopilots will give us an advantage to fully crewed boats,” Gough said, explaining that Sidewinder has a B&G autopilot.

Critically, the race crosses Bass Strait , a section of about 160 nautical miles that separates southern Australia and Tasmania. Average water depth is roughly 200 feet. Couple these shallow waters with the generally south-flowing East Australia Current and the strong southerly weather fronts — “busters” in race parlance — that oppose the current, and the seas can, and regularly do, become ferocious.

“If you’ve got the skills to put your boat where the wind is, it’s going to beat having a better autopilot every single day of the week,” Smallman said, adding that he still planned to let the autopilot drive whenever possible. “Boat handling. Seamanship. There’s just a list as long as your arm that’s going to outperform the importance of a pilot.”

Other two-handed skippers, including Tuck and Geeves, also plan to predominantly use their autopilot and focus on sail trim and tactics.

Regardless, sleep deprivation is a concern for two-handed teams in the multiday race.

“We’ll get into our rest cycle two or three hours after the start,” said Gough, explaining that he and Saul would alternate between sailing and resting every two hours.

Smallman and Hulley plan to run a similar schedule, weather depending, with roughly 15-minute crossovers at the below-decks navigation table, looking at their charts, weather forecasts and their tactical racing software. “We sort of tend to play little games,” Smallman said. “We might try to make a mile on the boat in front of us within our shifts.”

Then there is changing sails or reducing the amount of sail area alone or with the other sailor. “Getting the spinnaker down is the toughest part,” Tuck said. While more modern boats have spinnakers that can be furled into snakelike rolls using winches and then lowered in a controlled manner, Speedwell is old-school.

“We have to get the spinnaker down while it’s still set,” she said, describing wrestling with the huge, still-inflated sail. “It’s a big challenge.”

This challenge will be greatly magnified if the weather turns serious.

While the bigger, faster boats can sometimes out sail the worst storms, Tuck expects to see at least two busters en route to Hobart. “Hopefully no more,” she said. “The Hobart can be so rough, and we’re in a tiny little boat.”

Others note that, while the changing climate has recently delivered relatively mild Sydney Hobart races, all bull markets end. “There hasn’t been a rough race for a few years,” Gough said. “We’re well and truly due in for one.”

Should that happen, it will be seamanship, experience and preparation, not autopilots, that will dictate the results. “It’s all in the wind gods and each team’s decisions,” Tuck said. “And that word, luck.”

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51 seconds apart after 628 nautical miles: LawConnect edges Comanche in Sydney to Hobart race

Comanche heads down Sydney Harbour during the start of the Sydney Hobart yacht race in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. The 630-nautical mile race has more than 100 yachts starting in the race to the island state of Tasmania. (Salty Dog/CYCA via AP)

Comanche heads down Sydney Harbour during the start of the Sydney Hobart yacht race in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. The 630-nautical mile race has more than 100 yachts starting in the race to the island state of Tasmania. (Salty Dog/CYCA via AP)

Skallywag, left, and Comanche sail close during the start of the Sydney Hobart yacht race in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. The 630-nautical mile race has more than 100 yachts starting in the race to the island state of Tasmania. (Salty Dog/CYCA via AP)

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HOBART, Australia (AP) — LawConnect won line honors in the 78th edition of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Thursday, holding off defending champion Andoo Comanche by less than a minute in an exciting finish between the super maxis.

The pair of 100-foot yachts had dueled for much of the race and were well ahead of the rest of the fleet of 103 yachts that started the race on Tuesday in Sydney harbor.

LawConnect, which was runner-up in the last three editions of the race, finished in 1 day, 19 hours, 3 minutes, 58 seconds. Comanche’s time was 1 day, 19 hours, 4 minutes, 49 seconds — a margin of just 51 seconds.

It was the second-closest finish in Sydney to Hobart history after Condor of Bermuda beat Apollo by seven seconds in 1982.

Both yachts performed several late jibes as they attempted to secure the lead.

“I can’t believe that result. Honestly, it is a dream come true,” LawConnect’s skipper and owner Christian Beck said. “They took the lead pretty close to the line and we thought there was no way we could get it back.

“A wind gust came around. It was a complete surprise. There were guys who couldn’t watch. It was very nerve wracking.”

Comanche holds the race record of 1 day, 9 hours, 15 minutes, 24 seconds, set when it won the race in 2017.

“It is pretty painful, we’ve got an amazing boat that should have won,” Comanche skipper and owner John Winning Jr. said of Thursday’s result. “The other guys sailed their guts out and left nothing on the table. They beat us with an underdog boat, those guys deserve all the praise they get.”

“It was one of the most epic finishes in probably any sailing race I know. In the last three minutes I think the lead changed three times.”

Comanche and LawConnect were clear front-runners from just out of Sydney harbor. The pair began the trip down the New South Wales south coast at a fast clip but fell off the race record pace. The finish was at Constitution Dock in Hobart, the capital of the island state of Tasmania.

The highest-profile retirement of 11 race withdrawals was SHK Scallywag, one of four 100-foot super maxis which sustained a broken bow sprit and withdrew on the first evening of the race.

LawConnect was the first yacht out of the harbor.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

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Third SailGP Season Title For Team Australia

  • By SailGP Media
  • May 9, 2023

Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final in San Francisco

Tom Slingsby and his Australian team showed why they are one of the most dominant forces in sport as they claimed a third straight SailGP Championship. In a dramatic race on a sparkling day on San Francisco Bay, Slingsby outfoxed his rivals and held off a stunning late challenge from Peter Burling’s New Zealand to claim the SailGP Season 3 title and $1 million prize.

After winning the final Sail Grand Prix of the season ahead of Emirates Great Britain and Canada, Slingsby made it a day to remember with victory in the Championship Final Race over Peter Burling’s New Zealand and Ben Ainslie driving for Great Britain.

Slingsby made his intentions clear from the outset of the season-deciding three boat race, with an aggressive strategy that saw him get the better of both Burling and Ainslie in the pre-start and lead them over the line.

Slingsby said: “It feels unbelievable obviously, that was just a crazy race, a crazy week, a crazy year, but this one feels the best, just the way we sailed all year. Just before the race I just said to everyone here that I’m so proud of them, and no matter whatever happens we win together and we lose together, and fortunately for us things went our way and we were able to win the Championship Final Race as well.”

Slingsby said it was satisfying to claim the title after being the dominant team all season, with Australia making the most finals and winning the most events.

Slingsby said: “For sure, I’m not going to lie, we’d have felt a little hard done by if we won the championship this year with an event to spare and won the San Fran event comfortably and then lost the season, that would have been really tough. But everyone from around the world tunes in because they don’t know who’s going to win. We had the three best teams out there and everyone got to witness an amazing race and I think that’s better for our sport as a whole – we’re going to create new interest, more spectators and fans and that’s a good thing.”

Australia SailGP Team celebrate winning the Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final

A late error just before the final mark from Australia had opened the unlikeliest of windows for New Zealand to claim victory, but Slingsby held on to deny his fierce rival Burling an upset win.

Burling said: “We got ourselves right back in there at the end, we dug deep, we didn’t give up and we kept fighting, and I’m gutted to not pull it off, but you have to hand it to the Aussies, they are incredible.”

After looking like being a serious threat for the title on day one of San Francisco racing with a blistering performance, it was a disappointing second day for Ainslie and his team as errors saw it finish a distant third in the three-boat final.

Ainslie said: “It wasn’t quite clicking for us today as it was yesterday, and the Championship Final Race wasn’t our finest that’s for sure. But you know, as a team we have learnt a lot this season and can be really proud. Hats off to the Australian team though, what a performance to do the three-peat, it’s a fantastic achievement.”

Earlier in the day France had kept its faint Championship hopes alive with victory in the first fleet race, but Quentin Delapierre finished sixth in the second to end his team’s season in fourth.

Canada finished second in the day’s second race behind Australia and ended its debut season in SailGP in fifth place. Nicolai Sehested’s Impact League winners Denmark endured a more difficult time on the water and finished fourth in the event standings. It meant they fell to sixth in the final Season 3 standings.

Jimmy Spithill’s year to forget for the United States ended on a bright note with a third place in the last fleet race of the season, but the home team finished the season in seventh.

The battle for last place was fiercely contested all weekend and ended with Switzerland and Sebastien Schneiter avoiding the foot of the ladder in its debut season. Spain continues its restructuring period under new driver Diego Botin and ended Season 3 in ninth.

Season 4 is just a month away and will open in spectacular fashion on June 16-17 at Chicago’s Navy Pier for the Rolex United States Sail Grand Prix. It’s the first of 12 events that will span the globe – and see a new team join the startline – before the league returns once again to San Francisco for its Season 4 Grand Final on July 13-14, 2024.

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Australia’s Paris 2024 Olympics sailing team swells after five new inclusions - full team

Matt Wearn

So far, Australia have named a 12-member sailing team for Paris 2024. Get full squad.

Australia’s sailing team for the Paris 2024 Olympics swelled to 12 after five were included to the existing seven-member contingent on Friday.

Nia Jerwood and Conor Nicholas have been picked for the new mixed-470 event. Meanwhile, Zoe Thomson will compete in the ILCA-6 event while Nacra-17 sailors Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown have been included.

Barring Nia Jerwood, who competed at the Tokyo Olympics, the remaining four are poised for their Olympic debuts.

“It's a huge opportunity to go to an Olympics once in a lifetime, so to have the chance to go again with experience to bank on is really exciting,” Jerwood told the Australian Olympic Committee website. “The change to the mixed teams for the 470 meant I could team up with Conor. We've been mates since sailing Optimists and always had the same competitive drive, so it made a lot of sense to join up, it is safe to say it was a great decision.”

Zoe Thomson, who finished second at the Princess Sofia Regatta in Spain last month was also excited for her Olympic debut.

“It means so much to be part of the team. The legacy within Australian Sailing is rich, the values and standards those sailors lived by are clear,” Zoe said. “I have some hard work to do, and I am not afraid of that. I want to be Australia's first individual female Olympic medallist.”

All five sailors are currently competing at the Last Chance Regatta in Hyeres, France.

Seven sailors - Matt Wearn (ILCA 7), Grae Morris (Men’s iQFoil), Breiana Whitehead (Women’s Formula Kite), Oliva Price/Evie Haseldine (49er FX) and Jim Colley/Shaun Connor (49er) - were picked for the Australian sailing team for Paris 2024 earlier.

Wearn is the reigning Olympic and world champion in the ILCA7 class.

Australian Paris 2024 Olympics sailing team

  • Nia Jerwood/Conor Nicholas (mixed 470)
  • Zoe Thomson (ILCA-6)
  • Brin Liddell/Rhiannan Brown (Narca 17)
  • Matt Wearn (ILCA 7)
  • Grae Morris (Men’s iQFoil)
  • Breiana Whitehead (Women’s Formula Kite)
  • Oliva Price/Evie Haseldine (49er FX)
  • Jim Colley/Shaun Connor (49er)

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  2. Australia Sail Grand Prix: Sydney Information, Tickets, Live Stream and

    Australia claimed its first Season 4 win by triumphing over ROCKWOOL Denmark and New Zealand in an action-packed, three-boat Final on Sydney Harbour. A dominant performance on home waters throughout the weekend saw the Aussies qualify for the Final alongside the Kiwis and ROCKWOOL DEN, with France once again falling short of a top-three finish ...

  3. Australia and Denmark share the lead after the 1st day of racing at

    Australia SailGP Team helmed by Tom Slingsby leads New Zealand SailGP Team helmed by interim driver Nathan Outteridge, Spain SailGP Team helmed by Diego Botin and Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team helmed by Giles Scott as they sail past the Sydney skyline on Race Day 1 of the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, Feb ...

  4. Live Stream

    The final race in the 2023 Raymarine Australian Maxi Championship is the much-loved SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour.Nine of the best performance r...

  5. SailGP

    22 - 23 Jun 2024. Event Info Get Tickets. Event 13. 13 - 14 Jul 2024. Event Info Get Tickets. SailGP's ambition is to be the world's most sustainable and purpose-driven global sports and entertainment platform. We are racing for a better future and believe sport has the power to change the world. Race for the Future.

  6. Competition peaks as SailGP's ten national teams descend upon the

    SYDNEY - February 23, 2024 - With just one day remaining until the highly awaited KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix takes place on the picturesque waters of Sydney Harbour, anticipation builds across the fleet as the most exciting racing on water looks set to live up to its name as the teams get ready for a record fifth appearance down under, this weekend, February 24-25.

  7. Australia prevails in Sydney for first regatta win in Season 4 of

    Taylor Canfield, driver of the U.S. SailGP Team, runs across the F50 as Mike Buckley, CEO and strategist, takes control of the wheel on Race Day 2 of the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, Australia. Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. (Ricardo Pinto/SailGP via AP)

  8. Aussies Deliver at Sail Grand Prix Sydney

    By Kylie Lynch/SailGP. February 26, 2024. The Australia SailGP Team notched its first Season 4 finale win to firm its place top the season standings. Ricardo Pinto for SailGP. Tom Slingsby and his ...

  9. Live Coverage: Solas Big Boat Challenge

    Coverage of the Solas Big Boat Challenge, the final race of the 2022 Australian Maxi Championship, raced on Sydney Harbour on Tuesday December 6, 2022. The race features 10 boats - four 100-footers in the Maxi Division and six boats in the Mini Maxi Division. Entrants include Alive, Andoo Comanche, Black Jack, Hamilton Island Wild Oats ...

  10. Australia Wins SailGP, the F1 of Yacht Racing, in Dramatic Fashion

    Australia Wins SailGP, the Formula 1 of Yacht Racing, in Dramatic Fashion. Boat collisions, brutal winds and a whale wandering into the racecourse. In the end, the Aussies won SailGP glory and the ...

  11. Sail GP Sydney 2024: Another win for Slingsby

    Tom Slingsby's Australia triumphs on home soil with its first win of SailGP Season 4. First ever SailGP race win for Erik Heil's Germany. SYDNEY - February 25, 2024 - Tom Slingsby and his Australian crew have been crowned champions of the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix I Sydney, flying home in front of an ecstatic and vibrant 'Genesis ...

  12. Australia Beats New Zealand in SailGP Grand Prix Final in Tight Finish

    In the final, winner-takes-all $1 million race, it came down to the nail-biter finish between New Zealand and Australia. At one point, the Aussies had a 200-yard lead over New Zealand. "They ...

  13. Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race: Alive wins overall for a second time in

    Alive, skippered by Duncan Hine, has been declared the overall winner of the 78th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, securing the Tasmanian boat its second victory in five years. The win is also Tasmania's fifth in the 628 nautical mile Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's race after Hine skippered Phillip Turner's Reichel/Pugh 66 to her first ...

  14. Alive Sails to Another Sydney Hobart Race Win

    Phillip Turner's 66-foot racing yacht Alive wins the 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race for the second consecutive time. ... and Benoit Falletti, Managing director of Rolex Australia.

  15. SailGP

    Passion. Drama. Powered by Nature.™SailGP. Better Sport, Better Planet10 Teams. Iconic Global Racing Destinations. $5 Million Prize Money up for Grabs.

  16. On Some Boats for the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Three's a Crowd

    Kurt Arrigo/Rolex, via Associated Press. By David Schmidt. Dec. 24, 2021. There's a beautiful simplicity to two-handed offshore sailboat racing: two sailors, one boat and a lot of blue. For many ...

  17. 51 seconds apart after 628 nautical miles: LawConnect edges Comanche in

    Skallywag, left, and Comanche sail close during the start of the Sydney Hobart yacht race in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. The 630-nautical mile race has more than 100 yachts starting in the race to the island state of Tasmania. (Salty Dog/CYCA via AP)

  18. SailGP to return to Sydney Harbour in three-season agreement

    The championship will return to the iconic Sydney Harbour on February 18 and 19 2023, in the ninth event of SailGP Season 3. The ten teams competing in Season 3 - including new franchises Canada and Switzerland and returning nations Australia, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and the United States - will race on the ...

  19. Third SailGP Season Title For Team Australia

    In a dramatic race on a sparkling day on San Francisco Bay, Slingsby outfoxed his rivals and held off a stunning late challenge from Peter Burling's New Zealand to claim the SailGP Season 3 ...

  20. Australia

    Ever thought of a yacht race across the Tasman Sea? Our Australian sailing calendar is a combination of races, regattas and ocean passages around Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Secure your place on the crew for a once in a lifetime adventure To join us onboard the exciting 70+ foot racing and expedition yachts 'Silver Fern' and 'Salt Lines'.

  21. Australian Paris 2024 Olympics sailing team

    So far, Australia have named a 12-member sailing team for Paris 2024. Get full squad. Australia's sailing team for the Paris 2024 Olympics swelled to 12 after five were included to the existing seven-member contingent on Friday.. Nia Jerwood and Conor Nicholas have been picked for the new mixed-470 event. Meanwhile, Zoe Thomson will compete in the ILCA-6 event while Nacra-17 sailors Brin ...

  22. Sail Racing Australia & NZ

    Sail Racing Australia & NZ, Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia. 1,555 likes · 3 talking about this. Sail Racing is a highly specialized company that are focused on constructing the most innovative and

  23. Australia SailGP Team News, Features, Exclusives, Athletes, Stats

    Australia. Led by legendary sailor Tom Slingsby, the Australia SailGP Team remains the only team to have lifted the SailGP trophy, having won the Championship three times in a row. The Aussies won SailGP in Season 1, 2 and 3, earning them a formidable reputation among the F50 fleet. As one of the six original teams which began the Championship ...

  24. Sail Racing Australia

    Sail Racing Australia & NZ. Sail Racing is a highly specialised sailing clothing company based in Sweden, focused on designing and constructing the most innovative sailing gear available on the market.