Spain has stunned top teams Australia and New Zealand to steal the Season 4 Championship title in an action filled Grand Final finish on the iconic San Francisco Bay.
Diego Biotin’s team scraped into the Grand Final after fending off stiff competition from France in fleet racing to nail the start and secure the all-important inside line at Mark 1.
But Spain’s lead was marginal, and Australia and New Zealand continued to breathe down its neck, piling pressure on every maneuver. Spain pushed the ride height as high as possible to squeeze as much speed out of their F50 as possible, and managed to hit a top speed of 90 km/h.
Disaster struck Australia on the penultimate leg of the race when a messy maneuver caused the triple SailGP champions to fall off the foils.
Ultimately it was Spain which sailed the shortest distance – 10.5km compared to Australia’s 10.6km and New Zealand’s 10.8km – and executed the fewest number of maneuvers – just five in comparison to Australia’s eight and New Zealand’s 12.
This was despite Spain having a 97% fly time – lower than New Zealand’s 100% and level with Australia’s. Spain also had the lowest average speed – 62.3 km/h compared to Australia’s 62.4 km/h and New Zealand’s 63 km/h.
The win was even more of a coup as driver Diego Botin revealed the team broke a rudder during the last downwind leg. “We were lucky,” he said after racing, “we just managed to stay in front.”
The triumph marks and incredible turnaround for Diego Botin’s team, which finished last in Season 3 and underwent a disruptive crew reshuffle. But the team made gains throughout Season 4, winning its first ever event in Los Angeles before beating New Zealand and Australia in Bermuda.
Speaking after racing, Botin said: “I cannot describe the feeling now – it’s such a big pump of adrenaline. I can’t believe we did it in Bermuda and here again in the Grand Final in San Francisco.”
