British star Ainslie bids for $1m SailGP Grand Final

by

British sailing star Sir Ben Ainslie boosted his chances of reaching the $1million Grand Final of SailGP’s third season with finishes second, first and second in the San Francisco regatta on Saturday.

Ainslie’s Emirates Great Britain team entered the regatta fourth in the season standings, one point behind Frenchman Quentin Delapierre, who was consistently overtaken by the British skipper and finished sixth, eighth and sixth in the fleet of nine foiling boats 50 – foot catamarans.

The top three crews after Sunday’s final two fleet races will qualify for tech mogul Larry Ellison’s World League Grand Finals.

Two-time defending champion Tom Slingsby of Team Australia is the only skipper to qualify for the Grand Final based on season standings. Peter Burling and Team New Zealand are in good form in second place.

Slingsby, looking to both win the San Francisco regatta and gain confidence for his third straight Grand Final, took the lead with 28 points. He finished first, third and first while steering his Flying Roo – nicknamed for the giant yellow kangaroo on the wing sail – up and down along the city front between the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island. .

Ainslie is second, also with 28 points, and Burling third with 19 after finishing fourth, seventh and third. Burling, the reigning two-time America’s Cup champion helmsman, must finish at least fifth in the San Francisco regatta to claim a place in the grand final.

France is eighth with 13 points.

“We weren’t at a good level today,” said Delapierre.

Ainslie, a master of returns during his illustrious career, kept putting pressure on the French crew by blocking them during the pre-starts and forcing their catamaran to fall off its foils.

“It was a scenario we expected,” Delapierre said.

“The team is working hard to execute the maneuvers,” Ainslie said. “We had a swing in the first race, a cleaner one in the second, so we have to keep trying to do that and put the pressure on the French.”

Ainslie is the most decorated sailor in Olympic history, having won four gold medals and one silver. He was also a teammate with Slingsby aboard Ellison-owned Oracle Team USA, which successfully defended the America’s Cup in 2013 with a comeback against Emirates Team New Zealand in San Francisco Bay. Ainslie’s SailGP strategist Hannah Mills is the most successful Olympic sailor of all time with two golds and a silver.

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Leave a Comment