Kiwi Phil Robertson and Red Bull Italy break through in Race 3 of SailGP Rio

Brazil finally makes the start

The third fleet race brought 12 boats to the line for the first time in Rio. Mubadala Brazil had sorted their technical issues and the home crowd finally had a full fleet to watch. The start itself was a shambles. No boat looked clean crossing the line, and the gaps at mark one told the story. Canada was over a minute behind the leader. GBR 51 seconds back. France an extraordinary 37 seconds adrift, suggesting something had gone seriously wrong in the opening moments. Italy, by contrast, was third to the first mark just 3.2 seconds off the pace, already well-placed despite the general carnage.

The early laps

Denmark led at the first mark with Italy close behind, while the remainder of the fleet shuffled for position. By the second mark France had charged back hard taking the lead with Denmark second, 43 seconds back.

It didn’t last for France. By the third mark Italy had the lead and Denmark remained in second, 20 seconds back. Australia had come through to third, another 16 seconds further behind. France had slipped to fourth.

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By the fourth mark the race had settled. Italy led, Denmark 14 seconds back, France third at 27 seconds, Australia fourth at 45 seconds. Behind them a sizeable gap to USA in fifth, already a minute off the pace. The top four had broken away and the race for the win was between them.

The final leg

Italy held their nerve to the finish to deliver their first win in Rio. Kiwi driver Robertson crossed the line 15 seconds clear of Denmark, with Australia a further 29 seconds back in third. France fourth, 44 seconds off the winner. USA fifth, a minute and 26 seconds adrift.

Behind the top five the gaps blew out. Sweden sixth, Switzerland seventh, Spain eighth in a race they’ll want to forget after two protests mid-race, both dismissed. Germany ninth, Brazil tenth after sailing outside the boundary and taking a penalty. GBR eleventh after yet another difficult race and a protest at the finish that went nowhere. Canada last, having picked up two separate on-water penalties during the race that killed whatever chance they had.

The protest log

The middle of the fleet spent as much time in the protest room as on the race course. Switzerland lodged four protests across the race. Canada two, both dismissed before they then went and collected two penalties on the water. Spain two. Sweden one. GBR one at the finish (again). All cleared or found no penalty, but the number of incidents speaks to how tight and difficult the racing has been so far in Guanabara Bay’s shifty pressure.

Denmark’s week in context

Rockwool Denmark are owned by American Magic, and they arrived in Rio straight off a court battle with the Team USA SailGP entry. The dispute was over Rockwool’s use of a stylised American flag on their hull, two American-connected teams going at each other legally before the racing even started. Denmark won the right to keep the flag. Second place on the water was a decent follow-up.

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GBR in real trouble

Three races in and Emirates GBR have posted a retirement, a sixth and an eleventh. Fletcher’s team led the championship by three points coming into Rio. That lead is gone or close to it. They need the remaining races to go very differently, and then they need to make the final. The boat that has looked untouchable through most of season six has had an awful day in Guanabara Bay.

Race results

Rio Fleet Race 3 results

Leaderboard after Race 3