Ben Ainslie’s Emirates GBR posted a 2-6-1 series on the first day of the Oracle Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix.
Ainslie sits in second place tied on 24 points with Nicolai Sehested’s ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP with a 3-1-5,
They sit two points behind day 1 leader Tom Slingsby’s Australia team on 26 points.
In the opening race Slingsby overtook Ainslie’s Emirates GBR to nab the first race win of the day, with Sehested’s ROCKWOOL Denmark in third.
The second race went to Sehested’s crew ahead of Slingsby, with Diego Botin’s young Spanish team in third. Ainslie finishing down in sixth.
The third fleet race was Emirates GBR’s most impressive performance . . .
As the rest of the fleet struggled amid light conditions, Ainslie found some wind to pop up on the foils and dramatically pull away.
The team’s lead grew to over 400m+ to cross the line with an incredible 1.24 minute lead.
Botin’s Spanish team continued their improved form with a second place finish, with Phil Robertson bringing the Canadian team (5-7-3) home in third ahead of Australia.
Elsewhere, it was a poor day for Chicago event winners New Zealand, which finished in the final race of the day in dead last.
This means Peter Burning’s crew currently sits in 7th heading into day two, behind Jimmy Spithill’s U.S. in 6th and Canada in 5th.
Of their improved performance Ainslie commented: “It was a tough day to be consistent, but we did do a good job of it. It felt like it was a battle out there for sure.”
“It’s such a tight race course, but it was a battle for all of the teams. Overall it was a good day and fantastic racing, really, really tight race course, good conditions.”
Racing continues with two more fleet races Sunday and then the top 3 race-off in a final race to decide the event winner.
Oracle Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix – Day 1 (after 3 races)
1 // Australia // 26 points
2 // ROCKWOOL Denmark // 24 points
3 // Emirates Great Britain / 24 points
4 // Spain // 22 points
5 // Canada // 18 points
6 // New Zealand // 14 points
7 // United States // 14 points
8 // France // 10 points
9 // Germany // 7 points
10 // Switzerland // 6 points
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