SailGP New York: Tom Slingsby’s Australian crew move into second ahead of final, upbeat for finale

They might have been on the back foot most of the season but there’s good reason Tom Slingsby and his Aussie crew are now upbeat about winning their fourth straight SailGP.

A general view of a race during day two of competition of SailGP New York. Picture: Luke Hales/Getty Images

It’s around 16,00km from where Tom Slingbsy grew up north of Sydney but this body of water has become one of the happiest hunting grounds for the Olympic champion skipper and his Australian SailGP crew.

And it’s their imposing record on the challenging waters and in the traditional big winds of San Francisco Bay that has Slingbsy and his team upbeat despite missing the final of the SailGP New York event on Monday.

In the big scheme of things, it wasn’t that bad a regatta for the Australians who most importantly have moved from third to second overall behind the inform New Zealanders, winners in New York, heading into the winner-take-all grand final on July 14-15 in the US.

“New Zealand has had the ideal prep I guess, so they are the favourites,’’ said Slingsby after the Australian came back from some equipment issues and a broken start to win one of their races on Sunday.

Team Australia competing in New York

“But we have a really good history in San Francisco, we have a really good record and we have to take confidence in that.

“We will be there to fight for the win.

“You would love to be winning this event and heading to San Francisco full of confidence but we have to take confidence from our record in San Fran - we have never lost there.

“It’s a venue that suits us . . . strong winds, and we know we are pretty hard to beat when we are sailing well there.’’

The Australian have won the past three SailGP crowns in San Francisco.

OVERALL SAILGP STANDINGS

1 New Zealand 93 points

2 Australia 78 points

3 Spain 76 points

4 France 71 points

5 Canada 67 points

6 ROCKWOOL Den 67 points

7 Emirates GBR 66 points

8 United States 51 points

9 Germany 35 points

10 Switzerland 33 points

AUSSIE SAILGP CREW HAVE BACK TO THE WALL

SUNDAY: There’s nothing Tom Slingsby loves more than winning than a good dogfight and he’s found himself in the midst of a doozy as he and his crew battle for survival in the SailGP series.

After an indifferent first day of results, the Australians have just a couple of races to rack up enough points to qualify themselves for the rich SailGP finale which they have won the last three years.

But heading to the final day of the second last event of the season in New York, the Australians are on the backfoot.

Slingsby, who finished 28th in his first Olympics before winning at his second, needs a day of success in New York to protect their third place overall and edge into the finale.

And he’s remarkably calm at the prospect despite being in fifth place overall in New York behind Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand and Team GBR after the opening day saw two races run in erratic conditions and another cancelled as thunderstorms circled the fleet.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 22: Team Australia and Team Switzerland compete during day one of competition of SailGP New York on June 22, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)

“We aren’t really sure what weather conditions we will get. The forecast was for champagne sailing (today) and then thunderstorms came in and wrecked havoc,” Slingsby said.

“In the latest forecast we have seen a similar thing for tomorrow. We don’t know what conditions we will get.

“We just have to go away debrief and come up with a plan for tomorrow.’’

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 22: Team New Zealand competes during day one of competition of SailGP New York on June 22, 2024 in New York City. Luke Hales/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Luke Hales / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Slingsby admitted he and the crew did not sail their best in the tough conditions on day one which had left him frustrated.

But the Aussies must lift their game in their next races to earn a spot in the three-boat finale in San Francisco next month which carries a US $2m prize.

“We’ve won three grand finals before and we’ve just got to rise to the pressure again. We have in the past and we will again here,” Slingsby said.

New York is the 12th stop on the 13 event global circuit raced in foiling F5 catamarans and dominated by Australia until this year.

Australia has had mixed fortunes in the 2024 series – and some controversial decisions made against them.

They were docked eight crucial points after a collision in New Zealand and have had a series of equipment issues.

Originally published as SailGP New York: Tom Slingsby’s Australian crew move into second ahead of final, upbeat for finale