Poor starts drop Spain to seventh place; Send Denmark and New Zealand

Saint Tropez (France), Sep 9 (EFE).- The Spanish F50 ‘Victoria’, skippered by Diego Bott, finished seventh at the end of the first day of the French Grand Prix, the third round of the SailGP World Circuit for Catamarans. The ‘Foils’ (Hydrofoils) F50 launched this Saturday off the coast of Saint Tropez (France).

The Spanish team, heavily conditioned by its poor starts, finished sixth, fourth and seventh in three races on a course complicated by the instability of south-southeasterly winds that did not exceed 10 knots (18 km/h). . h).

The F50s used their 29 meter wingspan and crew of six, which still slowed down the race course with its many ups and downs.

The general classification is led by Nicolas Sehested’s Denmark team and Peter Burling’s New Zealand team, but behind them are four teams with two points. No one could clearly dominate. New Zealand won the first round, Australia led by Tom Slingsby very convincingly, and the USA led by Jimmy Spittle also won the third round.

Diego Bodin was joined by Florian Tritel (wing trimmer), Joel Rodriguez (air traffic controller), Joan Cardona (grinder/tactical), New Zealander Stewart Dodson (grinder) and Nicole van der Velden (strategist), along with Portuguese Bernardo Freitas. He got rid of Dodson in the second race.

Heats are short courses (about ten minutes), meaning a bad start carries a heavy penalty. So, in the first race they finished ninth, and after an incident they finished sixth, which ended with the Canadian team, led by ex-Spain captain Bill Robertson, being sanctioned.

In the second round they joined Germany, committed outside the line and there was a furious Spanish reaction after being penalized, rising to third place, although they finally entered fourth place, ahead of the United States.

They also had to drop out and come back in the third race, and only in the last stage did they recover to seventh place. They are now five points behind the leaders.

By the end of the day, New Zealand had a broken wing. There were no personal injuries, but damage to the structure of the AC50 needs to be assessed.

On Sunday, starting at 1:30 p.m., the last two qualifying rounds will take place and the final round between the top three overall will determine the winner of the French Grand Prix.

— General Classification French Grand Prix (three rounds contested).1. Denmark Nicolai Sehustedt (DIN) 21 pts.2. New Zealand Peter Burling (NZL) 21.3. United States Jimmy Spithill (AUS) 20.4. Great Britain Ben Ainslie (GBR) 20.5. France Quentin Delabier (FRA) 19.6. Australia Tom Slingsby (AUS) 19.7. Spain Diego Bodin (ESP) 16.8. Germany Eric Heil (GER) 11.9. Switzerland Sébastian Schneiter (SUI) 910. Canada Phil Robertson (NZL) 1 (1)(1).- 8 penalty points for an irregular maneuver against Spain in the first round this Saturday. EFE

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