SailGP’s third visit to the iconic island of Bermuda is fast approaching, with the event marking the 11th stop on Season 4’s record-breaking calendar. With just three events to go before San Francisco’s, season-defining Grand Final, pressure is mounting on teams to move up – or consolidate their place on – the Season 4 leaderboard. But which team has the best chance of winning?
The league previously visited Bermuda in both Seasons 2 & 3, but the event served as the season opener of both. In Season 4, Bermuda is taking place towards the end of the season for the first time, meaning teams are under pressure to make their mark on the season leaderboard. This could see teams pushing harder to win Bermuda than they would have in Seasons 2 & 3.
Bermuda is known for its flat water and steady wind conditions, making it a level playing field for both experienced and learning teams. But experienced teams have historically done well here.
In Season 2, Tom Slingsby’s Australia dominated fleet racing – winning four of the five fleet races (Emirates GBR took the other race win) and topping the leaderboard after five fleet races. But the Final, which saw Emirates GBR, Australia and France go head to head, saw then-driver Ben Ainslie clinch the ultimate victory.
Emirates GBR and Australia were both strong contenders during Season 3’s visit to Bermuda too, with Ainslie steering the team to two fleet race wins. But fleet racing had more mixed results, with Australia, New Zealand and Canada also taking one race win each. Canada had a strong performance overall – despite it marking the team’s racing debut – and proceeded into the winner-takes-all Final alongside Australia and Emirates GBR. This time, Australia was victorious and kicked off their Season 3 campaign with a triumphant win.
But the fleet comes to Bermuda in Season 4 after a dramatic event in Christchurch, which saw Australia docked a devastating 12 event and 8 season points for crashing into a mark, handing the season lead to their biggest rivals, New Zealand.
Christchurch also marked New Zealand’s 4th event win of the season, while Australia has won just one event so far.
The blow of losing the season lead could add fuel to Australia’s fire when the team returns to the venue of The Great Sound, with Slingsby himself saying he’s ‘looking forward to getting back in the game in Bermuda’. “The Aussie team will be back stronger for the next event,” he added.
SailGP’s commentary team agreed, with both Todd Harris and Stevie Morrison picking the Aussies and Kiwis as the favorites to take the event win.
“The Aussies and Kiwis have sailed in Bermuda an awful lot for the America’s Cup,” said Morrison, adding that Slingsby will ‘want to put the record straight’.
But Harris said ‘it will be hard to get past the Kiwis’, who are riding high after winning their home event in Christchurch.
“The Kiwis have found that magic Tom has had for so long of just always getting into the Final.”
