The Spanish F50 Victoria improves and leaves the Plymouth SailGP with the lesson learned

July 31 () –

The Spanish SailGP team left the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Plymouth with good feelings and an improvement in results, a seventh and sixth place, in a final day this Sunday marked by unpredictable winds, where New Zealand prevailed in its first victory in the regatta.

The New Zealand team achieved its first victory in SailGP in an unprecedented final in which they faced Australia and a combative Denmark. Meanwhile, Spain, who had just suffered on Saturday, finished the demanding English event in a positive way and with much learned.

Sunday’s races were very complicated due to the absence of wind that forced the drivers to maneuver and opt for risky strategies. Jordi Xammar’s men finished in seventh and sixth place, improving on Saturday’s results, eighth overall with 8 points.

The ships struggled to avoid the windholes by making various aggressive manoeuvres, looking for currents to help them gain enough speed to face the gates. On several occasions they have had to recover the lost rhythm, ending up unable to fly, with both skates in the water.

The final, played between New Zealand, Denmark and Australia had a spectacular start. The Kiwis opted for a more risky strategy and it worked out for them. Peter Burling’s men were in the lead for several minutes, but the Nordics, led by Nicolai Sehested, took the lead with the intention of making a splash.

The New Zealand boat knew how to be patient and staged a spectacular comeback to take the trophy and win in Plymouth. Australia, second, remains in the overall lead with 29 points, ahead of Great Britain (24) and New Zealand (22).

The F50 Victoria was once again under the command of Jordi Xammar (pilot) together with Florian Tritell (wing trimmer), Diego Botin (flight controller), Jake Lilley (grinder) in race 4, Joan Cardona (tactician and grinder) and Paula Barceló (strategist), being in race 5 Joel Rodríguez the grinder together with Cardona.

“It hasn’t been the best grand prix for us, but the toughest events are the ones where we learn the most and that’s what we’re going to do. In addition, we’re competing against the best sailors in the world. We’ll draw conclusions and come back stronger.” , it’s a matter of time,” said Xammar. The next SailGP appointment will be on August 19 and 20 in Copenhagen.