SailGP LA drama for Tom Slingsby’s Aussie as weed stick used to rid foil of kelp, day 1 results

Tom Slingsby’s Australian crew had to grab one of the strangest - and low tech - pieces of equipment on their hi tech foiling catamaran to save the day at the LA SailGP regatta

It is really just a boat hook with a special bend on the end but the Australian “weed stick’” became a magic wand for Tom Slingsby and his Australian Flying Roo crew on the opening day of the SailGP regatta in LA on Sunday.

Prepared for every eventuality, the weed stick was aboard the Aussie catamaran and came in handy right from the start when “a tonne of seafood” wound its way round their foil in the pre-start of the first race.

Unable to dislodge it for some time, the crew were slowed significantly but once cleared it the Australians were able to fight back to finish the day in third place overall heading into the second and final day of racing.

The first race mishap saw the Australians clock a 10th in the fleet of 12 but once cleared of the weed they managed to record a third, first and third in the following races to put Slingsby and his team back in the game.

“Tough old day, perfect conditions but something that cause havoc was the weed on the racetrack,’’ Slingsby said from LA.

“In the first race we hit weed as we were entering the start line and couldn’t foil. When we were going we really slow.

“Unfortunately we had a bad race but after that we sailed really well.’’

The Australian team are in third place overall after the drama packed opening day. Picture: Felix Diemer/SailGP.

The Australians are now in third place overall in the LA regatta where only the top three teams after more lead-up races on Monday go into the one-race final.

Peter Burling’s New Zealand had a great day on the water with a 1-1-9-2 scorecard.

Canada are second overall with their 3-2-5-6 result card.

Dylan Fletcher’s Great Britain crew, winners of the last round in Sydney and top of the series board, are back in sixth place.

Australia came into LA in second place overall in the series behind Great Britain.

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