SailGP Los Angeles practice in split fleet format

NorthStar Canada and last season’s Los Angeles winners, Spain, rose to the top of L.A.’s split-fleet practice racing ahead of official racing this weekend.

A split-fleet racing format was trialled during L.A.’s practice race session, with the league’s teams split into two groups; Group A and B.

This saw New Zealand, Australia, NorthStar Canada, Emirates GBR and ROCKWOOL Racing go head-to-head in Group A, while Spain, France, Mubadala Brazil, the United States, Red Bull Italy and Germany Deutsche Bank competed in Group B. Both groups took part in two fleet races each, battling gusty, shifty and rainy conditions with winds varying between 18-20 km/h.

The split-fleet meant there was more room on L.A.’s tight racecourse than there will be when the 12-strong fleet competes. This allowed Switzerland to stretch away from the fleet after winning the race to Mark 1 in the first fleet race.

But errors on board the Swiss boat saw them slip into last place on the second lap, while Australia overtook to claim a dominating 500m lead and 82% fly time at the finish line. New Zealand and NorthStar Canada completed the top three. A scrappy start between Emirates GBR , Switzerland and New Zealand unfolded at the beginning of the second fleet race, with the British earning an early start penalty and NorthStar Canada claiming a 100m lead over the Danish. And it was Giles Scott’s Canadian team, which took the win over ROCKWOOL Racing, with Switzerland in third - resulting in NorthStar Canada topping its fleet on points.
Group B took to the water soon afterwards, with Quentin Delapierre’s France executing a charging start to pick up a 100m lead by leg three. But technical issues plagued the team for the rest of the day, leaving them to finish last in both fleet races. Instead, it was last season’s L.A. champions Spain which took the win, beating Germany and home team the United States in second and third respectively. Spain was aggressive at the beginning of the fourth fleet race, pushing the United States off the course to miss the start line. Ultimately, it was Diego Botin’s team which soared to victory once again, beating the Germans in second and Brazilians in third to top the Group B. This is the second time SailGP has trialled a split-fleet racing format during a practice race session - the same format was tested ahead of Auckland in January

The Rolex Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix takes place on March 15/16, with racing from 2pm PDT.