Light wind racing saw the new extended wingsails come to the fore as teams battled to stay on the foils in the second SailGP regatta of 2021Team during some warm up racing ahead of the regatta. Photo: Bob Martin \/ SailGPIt was a weekend dominated by light winds as the SailGP fleet took to the waters of Taranto, Italy for their second regatta of 2021.
\nEven with the new wingsail extension, which was introduced to the class of foiling F50 catamarans this season to boost performance in light winds, the racing was very much a case of hunting the best pressure on the racecourse to keep hydrofoiling.<\/p>\n
One thing is for certain, this was a much improved spectacle as compared with the light wind venues of the first season, the new wingsail extensions doing enough to keep the boats foiling for the most part in the very light wind conditions.
\nUltimately it was Nathan Outteridge\u2019s Japan SailGP Team that reigned supreme with a massive win in the final podium race. Spain finished in second place in front of Jimmy Spithill\u2019s U.S team to move to the top of the SailGP Championship leaderboard following the opening two events of the season.
\nOvercoming disappointment in the first event of the series in Bermuda, Outteridge drove his team straight into the weekend\u2019s podium race and on to victory. It was an
\nintense battle in the final race \u2013 for which only the top three boats from the weekend compete \u2013 with Phil Robertson\u2019s Spanish team and an on form U.S. team.
\nSpithill was leading for much of the race, but was forced to pull out of the final race with a broken rudder after they got too high out of the water during a mark rounding, and crashed off the foils forcing the damage.
\nOutteridge manoeuvre during SailGP racing. Photo: SailGP
\nOutteridge said: \u201cIt\u2019s really nice to win here. We knew that the result in Bermuda didn\u2019t reflect our performance and obviously that was unfortunate. We sailed really well all the time here and it\u2019s just been fantastic to have Francesco [Bruni] onboard \u2013 not just on the boat but the chase boat as well helping us with coaching \u2013 so to deliver a home win for him is just fantastic.\u201d
\nDownsizing the crew between the fleet races and the final podium race to three athletes \u2013 a move used variously by a number of teams at different points through the weekend \u2013 due to the light winds meant Japan team flight controller Bruni would be repositioned onto the chase boat, but the win in Bruni\u2019s home country in front of cheering crowds was a fairytale ending to his weekend.
\nArticle continues below\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSailGP: All you need to know about the 2021 season<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhen Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts launched SailGP back in 2018, the plan was that, by 2021, the series would\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSailGP: Stunning opening weekend hails return of series<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSir Ben Ainslie\u2019s British team took the opening victory in an action-packed SailGP in Bermuda, which saw close racing, collisions,\u2026<\/p>\n
Bruni said: \u201cIt\u2019s been an incredible event. We are super happy, it couldn\u2019t get any better! We deserved some luck in the last race. I think we all sailed very well during the week, especially Nathan, Chris [Draper], and Tim [Morishima]. It\u2019s really a prize for how good we sailed all week.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s been unbelievable to see so many people on the water, and along the shore watching and cheering, especially for us, for me, and for the whole event. It\u2019s been a great success.\u201d
\nThe Japan team now sit third on the season championship leaderboard with 14 points, with fellow finalists Spain moving into first place. Great Britain, winners of the Bermuda Sail Grand Prix presented by Hamilton Princess, are in second place despite a disappointing sixth-placed finish in Taranto under interim driver Paul Goodison, who has stepped in for an absent Ben Ainslie.
\nSunday\u2019s two fleet races were won by New Zealand and Japan respectively \u2013 the debut race win for Season 2 newcomers New Zealand with Arnaud Psarofaghis in the driving seat for the first time, while Peter Burling and Blair Tuke embark on defending their Olympic title.
\nRounding out the event standings were New Zealand in fourth, Denmark in fifth, Great Britain in sixth, France \u2013 who made the podium in Bermuda \u2013 placed seventh, and Australia taking eighth spot.
\nThe next leg of SailGP will be in Plymouth, U.K on July 17-18 as the third event on the global league\u2019s championship calendar.
\nItaly Sail Grand Prix:
\n1: Japan
\n2: Spain
\n3: United States
\n4: New Zealand
\n5: Denmark
\n6: Great Britain
\n7: France
\n8: Australia
\nSailGP Season Championship:
\n1: Spain \u2013 16 pts
\n2: Great Britain \u2013 15 pts
\n3: Japan \u2013 14 pts
\n4: New Zealand \u2013 13 pts
\n5: France \u2013 12 pts
\n6: Australia \u2013 12 pts
\n7: United States \u2013 11 pts
\n8: Denmark \u2013 11 pts<\/p>\n
If you enjoyed this\u2026.<\/p>\n
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The post SailGP: Light winds for round 2 in Italy appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Light wind racing saw the new extended wingsails come to the fore as teams battled to stay on the foils in the second SailGP regatta of 2021Team during some warm up racing ahead of the regatta. Photo: Bob Martin \/ … <\/p>\n