Spain’s Botin takes lead over Kiwis in Abu Dhabi SailGP regatta while Team USA is 3rd
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Spain’s Diego Botin finished last in the first fleet race before winning the next two races to take the lead in the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix on Saturday.
Botin’s strong performance aboard his red foiling catamaran “Los Gallos” in light wind on the Persian Gulf came a day after three-time defending SailGP champion Tom Slingsby challenged younger skippers to step up after veterans Jimmy Spithill and Sir Ben Ainslie retired from racing in tech billionaire Larry Ellison’s global league.
Botin, who turned 30 on Christmas, won the Los Angeles regatta in mid-July for Spain’s first-ever SailGP win but has made the podium race only once in the four regattas since then.
Botin has 21 points going into Sunday’s two fleet races, after which the top three teams from the 10-boat fleet advance to the podium race. New Zealand’s Peter Burling, a two-time winner this season, is second with 20 points after going 1-10-2 while Taylor Canfield has the new-look Team USA in third place with 19 points after finishes of 9-2-3.
“We started the day in a poor position with a last place in the first race but it was amazing to come back with two wins and be on top of the leaderboard,” Botin said. “It was super close so everything will be decided tomorrow.”
Botin had strong starts in the second and third races, and then outmaneuvered Burling to win the final race.
“It’s a sign that we have been working a lot in these light wind conditions,” Botin said. “We know it’s all about getting a good trigger pull at the start, which we managed to do.”
Burling, the two-time reigning America’s Cup champion helmsman and a three-time Olympic medalist, said the light wind and a new double reach configuration after the start made for a tough day.
“It was really a day where if you’re not first, you’re last,” Burling said. “Looking at the leaderboard, the first two boats overall each had a first and a 10th. It shows just how tricky it is out here.”
Canfield is in his second regatta as U.S. skipper. He finished eighth in Dubai last month, a few weeks after the team was purchased by a group of investors that includes former Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner and actress Issa Rae.
“We pushed hard today,” Canfield said. “I think people have been underestimating us. Granted we are sailing in light air and that helps, but we are progressing every day. Our foot is on the throttle and we’re not going to back down.”
Slingsby, who leads the season standings by 11 points despite not winning a regatta, was sixth overall and five points off the lead after going 2-9-6. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Giles Scott was seventh in all three races in his debut as Ainslie’s replacement aboard Emirates GBR and is in eighth place.
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