A hard blow for the American SailGP team whose boat was damaged before the grand finale in San Francisco. During the first regatta of the day, contested in very unstable winds in terms of strength and direction, Jimmy Spithill and his crew were struck on the port side by the Spanish F50 attacking a buoy.
Barcelona helmsman Jordi Xammar and his five sailors had to throw in the towel for the 2e regatta of the day just like the Americans whose port float aft is partly destroyed. Their team carried out a makeshift repair so that the F50 US could take the start of the grand finale of the SailGP season scheduled at 3:04 p.m. (00:04 a.m. in France) and for which it is qualified with the Australians and the Japanese.
Collision also for the French
The Australians won the last two regattas before the final. 4e of the first race of the day, the French ended the 2021-2022 season on a 6e place and a big scare since they were victims of a collision with the New Zealanders. During a crossing with the English boat, Quentin Delapierre and his crew wanted to pass behind the latter but the Kiwis’ F50, about to jibe, forgot the French boat and hit it on the port side.