SailGP Final – Australia win the US$1m prize pot
Tom Slingsby and SailGP Australia win the final Match Race in Marseille for the US$1m prize and are 2019 SailGP Champions. They clinched the title after trailing Nathan Outteridge’s Japan SailGP Team from the start.
Nathan Outteridge’s Japan team owned the start leading Australia by two seconds for the first two mark roundings.
But then Australia split from Japan at the first top gate, allowing Slingsby clear air and better boat speed than Outteridge’s Japan.
When the two teams converged at the final downwind gate, Outteridge went for an aggressive play, attempting to use his right of way position to force Slingsby off his course and cause him a penalty.
The offensive play backfired, Outteridge couldn’t establish an overlap with the Australian boat and force a penalty on him and in doing so lost his own boat speed and gave the race to his competitor.
Slingsby and SailGP Australia triumphantly crossed the finish line 13 seconds ahead of Outteridge to make history as the first ever SailGP Champion.
Race analysis determined that the final duel came down to a mere 78 centimeters at a crucial moment on the racecourse; if the Australians had been five-hundredths of a second slower, Japan could have forced them to incur a penalty.
It was a risky play by Japan in an attempt to force Australia off its course that backfired and allowed Slingsby to move into the lead and ultimately take the win.
SailGP Season 2 will debut February 28-29, 2020 in Sydney, allowing Slingsby to start the season defending on his home waters.
Marseille SailGP Season 1 Grand Final – Final overall after 7 Fleet races & Matchrace
1st Australia – Tom Slingsby 9, 10, 9, 1, 2, 2 – – 229 pts
2nd Japan – Nathan Outteridge 10, 7, 10, 2, 3, 1 – – 223 pts
3rd China – Phil Robertson 6, 8, 6, 3, 1, 4, 2 – – 171 pts
4th Great Britain – Dylan Fletcher 8, 9, 8, 6, 4, 6, 4 – – 169 pts
5th France – Billy Besson 7, 6, 7, 4, 6, 3, 1 – – 164 pts
6th United States – Rome Kirby 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 3 – – 163 pts
