The Japan SailGP Team moved top of the SailGP Season Championship with a fine win in Saint-Tropez, beating the United States and Spain in the Final of the France Sail Grand Prix.
Nathan Outteridge, Driver for the Japanese team, once again lived up to his nickname of the ‘wind whisperer’ by dominating in the light-air conditions, showing incredible consistency across the weekend and then putting in an elite display exactly when it mattered.
Runners-up the United States appeared to be favourites heading into the Final, topping the rankings after the five Fleet Races, but Japan’s dominating performance in the winner-takes-all clash earned them a well-deserved victory.
Following the light-air conditions on Race Day 1, the decision was made ahead of Sunday’s action to debut the new 29 meter wing - which has undergone rigorous testing over the past few weeks - to ensure the F50s were sufficiently powered.
And Outteridge, one of the few athletes to have practised with the wing ahead of racing, made the most of this newly discovered power to skipper Japan to victory in the first Fleet Race of the day.
The United States SailGP Team sit just two points behind first place in the SailGP Season 2 championship standings after an impressive showing at the France Sail Grand Prix.
The American team narrowly missed out on their first event win of the season, leading the final race for four legs only to have a large shift in the light winds favour the Japan SailGP Team who ultimately claimed victory.
The result moved the team up the overall standings, despite a season plagued by significant adversity. The most recent of which saw Wing Trimmer Paul Campbell-James suffer a broken leg in practice at the previous event in Demark.
Campbell-James staged an incredible three-week recovery to compete in Saint Tropez and help the team navigate a new 29-metre wing for the first time, which debuted across the league’s F50 catamarans. These are the largest wings in SailGP competition and have been designed to provide greater lift in lighter winds.
U.S. SailGP Team Driver Jimmy Spithill said: “It was a great race and a great regatta for our team. It was dynamic – there were lots of minefields on the racecourse and we need to give credit to Japan for sailing a great race. We had our chances to win the race but we’re happy with second overall.”
The two-time America's Cup winner added: “We continue our climb up the overall leaderboard. This is our first event where we did not have an incident on the water involving someone breaking a bone, hitting an object or almost sinking. Things must be turning for the better.”
Sunday’s result came at a crucial time in the SailGP season, with just two more events until the Grand Final at the United States Sail Grand Prix in San Francisco on March 26-27, 2022, where the top three teams overall will compete for the US$1m prize.
The team next heads to Cadiz for the Spain Sail Grand Prix on October 9-10, 2021.
SailGP Season 2 overall standings:
- Japan SailGP Team (Nathan Outerridge) – 37 pts
- United States SailGP Team (Jimmy Spithill) – 35 pts
- Australia SailGP Team (Tom Slingsby) – 35 pts
- Great Britain SailGP Team (Ben Ainslie) – 34 pts
- Spain SailGP Team (Phil Robertson) – 31 pts
- New Zealand SailGP Team (Peter Burling) – 30 pts
- Denmark SailGP Team (Nicolai Sehested) – 28 pts
- France SailGP Team (Billy Besson) – 27 pts
