Tom Slingsby’s Australia has topped leaderboard of the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland fleet on the first day of racing in Auckland.
A bumper racing schedule of four fleet races saw the Aussies pick up a solid 5-1-2-2 racing record in front of sell out crowds, finishing the day at the top of the fleet with 34 points.
The Aussies have a six point lead over Emirates GBR in second with a 1-2-9-2 on 28 pts, while Spain complete the day one podium in third with 2-4-4-8 on 26 points.
But there’s everything to play for when racing resumes Sunday, with just five points separating the British in second and ROCKWOOL Den in sixth.
Other race winners were the Swiss and the Kiwis.
The sold-out grandstand of 8,000 spectators enjoyed some keen racing and it will continue Sunday and after two more fleet racing the top three will face-off in the winner-takes-all final race.
The opening race began with the 11 teams (no France) charging full throttle to the start line, Emirates GBR made an impressive start, hitting the line with perfect timing to battle Spain for the lead at the first mark. Fletcher split from Spain at the third mark, to take the lead as the team took the lead and claimed victory in the day’s opener.
In race two, Emirates GBR started in second place behind the USA. On the downwind leg, Australia gained ground and pushed GBR back to third. Another decisive call by Emirates GBR to split the course, opting to head to the shoreline gave them a second place finish behind Australia.
In the third race Emirates GBR blew the start and rounded the first mark in 10th place, only managing to recover to 9th at the finish line. The Swiss took the win.
In the final race of the day, Emirates GBR again rounded the first mark in 10th, but came through the fleet to finish in 4th place, and take second overall. New Zealand finally clicked to win the race, their best race of the day.
The ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland continues on Sunday 19 January.
