“We have shifted from the top of the leaderboard, to bottom after Italy, and now back to the top after Great Britain, in just three events. You can see that there are just a few points between the top of the fleet, which just shows how close this competition is.”
Celebrating with his Australia crew members was grinder Nick Hutton, who hails from the UK city of Devon.
“It’s always great to win, and for me, it’s extra special winning in Plymouth. It’s as close as I’m ever going to get to racing at home, so I’m super happy. The last race was very hectic for us, we didn’t make it easy for ourselves, but it was great to get it done,” Hutton admitted.
But this season also saw the French and US teams – the former including Billy Besson on the helm and Leigh McMillan onboard – follow close behind. After a nail-biting final race which saw multiple lead changes, the French eventually took home the silver. A podium finish that’s placed them in the top three overall leaders.
“We had a bad start during the first race, and we know the starts are really important. The start in Race 5 was much better and we finished second, which meant we were able to qualify for the final. We were very happy to be there and we tried to win but it was a difficult race,” said Bresson.
“We have learned a lot over the past few events. We’ll keep working to remain stable and stay in the mix. We’re in a good position, and we hope to still be fighting at the front by the end of the season. We’re not here for nothing!”
The US SailGP Team similarly found a level of redemption, taking a hard-fought third-place finish off the back of two disappointing results.
“It was a good day because we made the final race again, but unfortunately, we had a bit of a technical issue on our starboard rudder that was deteriorating throughout the day,” said Jimmy Spithill, helmsman of the US SailGP Team.
“It was a good result for the team, given what had happened in the first two events. We’ve climbed our way up the leaderboard to mid-table, and it’s very tight, so we’re happy with that.”