Spanish claim SailGP grand final title

They say things come in threes, but for Spain it’s four from four, as Los Gallos snatch their first SailGP Championship title, adding to major wins in the Euros 2024, the Wimbledon final, and LIV Golf on a Sunday of sport the Spanish won’t soon forget.

Spain defeated league heavyweights Australia and New Zealand, who finished second and third respectively in Sunday’s winner-takes-all Grand Final race (14 July 2024).

Putting it together when it matters most, it was once again all about the startline which driver, Diego Botin, executed to perfection – as his team took flight in the Grand Final, pushing ahead of trans-Tasman rivals straight from the starting blocks.

“Beating the Kiwis and Aussies in the Grand Final here in San Francisco — it’s amazing,” says Botin. “We’re over the moon. It’s been a big grind, and we’ve been through a lot in this league – last season, we were last in the scores, and look – this season, we won! I think we have an amazing team; let’s see if we can keep it together and keep the ball rolling.”

With Australia hot on Spain’s heels for the duration of the Grand Final race, it was all down to moments before the final manoeuvre where Australia lost critical momentum – citing technical error once again. In a drag race to the finish, Botin soared into the win, delighting cheering Spanish fans, who had plenty to celebrate.

Slingsby acknowledged it had come down to sheer bad luck: “It was a normal tack, but somehow the board came off the lock. We’ve done thousands of tacks this week and it hasn’t happened at all, then today it happened in the final $2m race. What do you do? It’s just unlucky.”

Australia was the only team to secure multiple fleet race wins in San Francisco, securing three victories out of five total fleet races — proving their usual San Francisco form, despite falling short in the final.

Slingsby adds: “Honestly, the team sailed the best we’ve sailed, almost ever, today. We had that mentality the whole race, even when we were behind, so I’m so proud of this team and the way they sailed. I’m honoured to be part of it all.”

Following weeks of speculation about the viability of a Spanish team on the startline next season, Botin’s standout performance on San Francisco Bay will have silenced a few critics – and attracted the right kind of attention to hopefully keep the team away from the chopping block come November.

And a nail-biting final wasn’t the only drama on Championship Sunday — with Fleet Races 4 and 5 filled with their own excitement. That included France’s risky dice with the Danes, which saw Les Bleus out of Fleet Race 5 — left with a broken rudder and a 12-event point penalty (eight season points).

Driver Quentin Delapierre expressed his disappointment: “Sometimes you prefer to stay at home, and today I think that was the case. At the last tack, I just didn’t see the Danish, and we crashed with them. We didn’t finish the job, and it’s really painful for everybody on board right now. But I’m incredibly proud of what the team achieved, and I think the overall ranking will not show what we’ve done this season, particularly here where we had an unbelievable Saturday.”

Despite being the on-form team throughout the season, New Zealand’s third-place position proved what makes the winner-takes-all Grand Final as cut-throat as it gets.

Driver Peter Burling said: “We’re all feeling the pain at the moment, but we’re really proud of the way the team has gone about their business. We’ll go back, reflect on that and come out swinging next season.”

Crowds of thousands enjoyed up-close viewing of the unfolding action from the grandstands in the Race Stadium at Marina Green across the weekend, with a 50-strong spectator fleet on the water on each day of the event weekend.

For the upcoming 2024/25 Season, SailGP has confirmed that, for the first time ever, teams will receive vital training at two pre-season training camps in Bermuda and Dubai, beginning in August and October, respectively.

Brazil will be the first South American team to join the SailGP league and the first of new teams and new ownerships confirmed ahead of Season 5.

The 2024/2025 Season will begin with the Dubai Sail Grand Prix on 23-24 November 2024.