‘I’m still baffled’: Penalty costs Australia place in final at Great Britain SailGP

Australia’s SailGP driver was left baffled after a controversial penalty denied the Flying Roos a place in the final in Great Britain.

Australia’s hopes of a podium finish at the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix came undone in dramatic fashion overnight on Sunday, with extreme conditions and a contentious umpire call combining to derail their finals campaign.

With top-end winds and waves pounding the fleet in Portsmouth, teams were pushed to the limit in what many described as “survival racing”.

The high stakes racing on Sunday saw Great Britain and Spain both suffer tech issues during racing, near-misses across the fleet, and boats reaching speeds of up to 83km/h in wild conditions.

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Tom Slingsby’s crew were in the hunt for the third spot in the winner-takes-all final ahead of Switzerland after the team secured a fourth place in the fifth fleet race.

However the defining moment for the Australians came in the sixth race, when they were hit with a controversial penalty in a four-boat incident involving Canada, Denmark and Great Britain.

Commentator Stevie Morrison said: “Oh my lord, Australia relative (to) Canada, that’s unbelievable. Huge penalty to the Roos.”

Watch the moment Australia was penalised for in the video above

Australia was penalised for getting too close for other boats at the Mark. Photo: Instagram.

Australia was penalised for getting too close for other boats at the Mark. Photo: Instagram.

Australia was deemed the outside boat failing to give room to Canada by the umpires, a decision that forced the team to go behind Canada losing several places in the fleet and ultimately a place in the final.

Slingsby disagreed with the penalty, saying: “We obviously didn’t even see Canada, they were three boats apart.

“I have seen the footage and I am still shocked as to how we got the penalty. GBR didn’t even attempt to gybe and if they did we would have had to avoid and keep clear of them, but I am still baffled by the decision. That cost us the final.”

New Zealand’s Black Foils claimed victory on the Solent in Portsmouth, edging out Great Britain and Switzerland, while Australia finished fourth overall at the UK event.

Slingsby said there was plenty to take away from the weekend, but he was left wanting more as the BONDS Flying Roos chase their second win of the season after saluting in Auckland in January.

“We’ve got speed and we’ve got the skills to do it,” Slingsby said.

The BONDS Flying Roos in action at Portsmouth. Photo: Ricardo Pinto for SailGP.

New Zealand won the SailGP event in Britain. Photo: Andrew Baker for SailGP.

“We had some really great moments and some average moments, but we know we can sail better than that so we will regroup and review the footage so we can keep improving.”

The Kiwi win has triggered a shake-up at the top of the season five leaderboard with New Zealand now moving into first place on 54 points, narrowly ahead of the BONDS Flying Roos on 52 points, and Spain close behind on 51 points.

New Zealand have been one of the most consistent and successful teams over the course of SailGP’s existence but the Black Foils are yet to win an overall championship.

The Rolex SailGP Championship now shifts to Sassnitz, Germany, with the next Grand Prix scheduled for August 16-17, as the BONDS Flying Roos continue their campaign for a fourth championship title.

Originally published as ‘I’m still baffled’: Penalty costs Australia place in final at Great Britain SailGP