Just 30 minutes before the start of the first race day of the third stage of the SailGP series in New York City, a drama unfolded in the Hudson River Bay. The competitors were already on the water and were preparing to go to the start when a strong gust of wind suddenly overturned the catamaran F50 of the British team. All crew members survived unharmed but the capsize was not without consequences for the sailplane. Because of this, the British had to miss the whole day, that is, in fact, half of the stage. In the remaining two races the crew finished in the third and fourth places, but - as expected - still finished the stage in the bottom of the standings. However, despite this the British managed to retain their third place in the overall standings of the series with a one-point lead over the US team.
However, this turned out to be only to the advantage of the rivals. The Japanese team, who at the previous round in San Francisco was one step from first place, but in the end lost to the Australians, in New York took revenge, winning three of the five races of the fleet. It was only in the first of these races that the leader of the previous rounds, the Australian team, was again ahead of the yachtsmen from the Land of the Rising Sun. In the fifth race, the US crew came out on top, but even then, the Japanese left the Australians behind in third place. The final match-race also ended in favour of Japan and not Australia. All this allowed the Japanese team to move up to first place in the series overall standings with a one-point lead over Australia.
The next round of the SailGP series will be hosted by the British. The competition will be held on August 10-11 in Cowes (Isle of Wight south of Southampton).
