Sailing - SailGP - Australia Sail Grand Prix - Sydney Harbour, Sydney, Australia - February 8, 2025 Australia SailGP Team's driver Tom Slingsby, grinder Sam Newton, flight controller Jason Waterhouse, and grinder Kinley Fowler in action on Race Day 1 of the Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, Australia. Felix Diemer/SailGP/Handout via REUTERS
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia dominated on the first day of the third round of the SailGP season on Saturday as skipper Tom Slingsby nailed his starts to give the home team wins in two of the four races in tricky conditions on Sydney harbour.
The three-time champion Australians, who won the second round of the series in Auckland last month, finished third in the opening race and were pipped by Britain in the second before two commanding victories.
"I don't know what's going on with our starts, but it's all sort of gelling," said Slingsby.
"You need a bit of luck and we've had a bit of luck. Little gaps have opened up at the right time. Sometimes it just clicks. And we're in a little purple patch at the moment. We hope we can continue it on."
Britain, who led the season rankings coming into the weekend, trailed the Australians by five points after 5-1-3-3 race results, with Switzerland, who won the day's opening race, third a further two points back.
France, who were unable to race in the first two stops of the season because of issues with their boat, made a strong return to the fleet and ended the day fourth in the standings.
"It was wonderful, honestly," said helmsman Quentin Delapierre.
"Coming back here in Sydney in good condition...I think we are stepping one step forward."
Peter Burling's New Zealand boat, which won the season-opening leg in Dubai, continued to struggle at the start and will go into day two in eighth place a hefty 30 points behind Australia.
Although France returned to the fray, hopes that a record 12-strong fleet would take to the waters were dashed.
The United States boat capsized while being towed out to training on Friday, causing extensive damage to the catamaran and forcing the team to pull out of the race weekend.
The Americans were docked eight season points for damaging their boat, one of a slew of penalties handed out because of training incidents on Friday.
Germany were the most heavily penalised and lost 20 points from its 2025 season score and 32 points for the Sydney event, leaving them still 21 points in arrears at the end of day one.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Sam Holmes)
