SailGP kicked off Season 4 Friday, June 16 on iconic Lake Michigan. Race fans enjoyed the thrilling speed of the F50 catamarans as they raced to the finish line in front of Navy Pier. It was an action-packed first day of qualifying.
Defending champs Australia looks to repeat last year's win in Chicago. They started the day by taking first place in two of the three fleet races. Driver Tom Slingsby of Australia spoke about race two when Australia began at the back of the pack. “Race two was just a mistake on my behalf.”, says Slingsby, “I just got my time and distance wrong and by the time I realized I was out of sync, I couldn’t actually get into the start line.”
After day one, Australia leads with 26 points, New Zealand is in second with 25 points and Canada is in third with 24 points. All three teams are in significant positions for day two. Hometown favorite United States currently sits in ninth place with eight points.
Many of the drivers spoke about the beauty of the city. Rockwool Den driver Nicolai Sehested says, “I love Chicago and Lake Michigan. I’ve been here many times with sailing. I think it’s my favorite city in the US to be honest. Happy to be here. Really cool race track in front of Navy Pier.” There’s still time to catch all the action. The races continue on Saturday, June 17 at 4 p.m. For more info, check out SailGP.com.
Lake Michigan
SailGP ESP
You may also like:
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.