3 minute read
Tom Slingsby's Australia will look to reprise their winning ways when the SailGP travels to Christchurch next month.
Tom Slingsby believes Australia turned the momentum of the season at the Sydney SailGP and will plan to pull further ahead on the leaderboard in Christchurch next month.
Australia arrived in Sydney atop the overall rankings but still hunting their first event win of season four and hoping to recover from a season-worst seventh-place finish at January's Abu Dhabi SailGP.
The three-time reigning champions progressed to Sunday's final thanks largely to their strong performances in the three fleet races on a windy first day.
Australia and New Zealand were forced behind third contender Denmark for starting the final too early but Slingsby's boat recovered better.
The Australian boat closed in on victory after Denmark miscalculated the position of a buoy on Sydney Harbour and veered off course.
Slingsby admitted it was a relief to have come up with Australia's first overall win since the season three grand final in San Francisco.
"The first half of the season, we sailed really well but we didn't get any wins. Now we're back in the breeze, we show we can win," he told AAP.
Australia now sits eight points clear of New Zealand on the rankings ahead of next month's Christchurch Sail GP, the ninth of 13 events this season.
The Kiwis, who finished third in Sydney and won the previous two events, will boast home advantage and welcome regular driver Peter Burling back from paternity leave.
But the win in Sydney has Slingsby confident of his boat's chances.
"Obviously New Zealand are still super strong. They haven't had a bad event and they had a great event (in Sydney) as well," he said.
"But I feel like for us, we've sort of gotten the monkey off our back.
"We're back into the winner's column and I feel like we've turned the momentum a little."
Nathan Outteridge, who drove for Japan in the first two SailGP seasons, felt he had achieved his mission as Burling's replacement despite Australia taking top spot in Sydney.
"There's a long way to go until (the grand final) in San Francisco and every time you get a podium, that puts you further and further ahead of the group behind," he told AAP.
"I feel like I achieved my goal for the team of no penalty points, no crashes, podium result."
Outteridge, who also filled in for Denmark's Nicolai Sehested in Abu Dhabi, said the latest race had reaffirmed his desire to return to the SailGP full-time.
"Hopefully I can work towards getting a team for the future. I'd love to be racing these guys come season five," he said.
Denmark were the most consistent performers across the Sydney SailGP, finishing atop the event leaderboard as they placed second in the final.
Sehested believed his team was closing in on a first-ever overall win.
"We're doing well when we get it right, but it's just about getting it right more than wrong," he told AAP.
