Australia beats Spain and Britain to win the New Zealand leg of SailGP

The SailGP fleet on race Day 2 of the New Zealand leg of the SailGP series in Auckland

Australia won the New Zealand leg of the SailGP series, pressing home an advantage they enjoyed throughout the event to beat Spain and Britain in the three-boat final.

Three-time champion Australia sailed a flawless race in gusty conditions in the final, beating Spain by 22 seconds with Britain third.

After two events this season, Britain and New Zealand are tied with 17 points to lead the series standings. Australia and Spain are third with 16 points each and Australia now heads to its home event on Sydney on Feb. 8 and 9.

After four fleet races on day one, Australia led the Auckland event standings with 34 points from Britain with 27, Spain with 26 and New Zealand with 25.

Australia then won the first of three fleet races on day two and finished second in the next to secure its place in the final before the third race from which it had to withdraw with a technical issue.

The Australians won the start in the final as they did in the first two races of the day. The boats were close at gate one but Australia rounded narrowly ahead of Spain and Britain fell of the foils near the gate to lose any chance of winning.

Spain closed the gap when the boats split on the fifth of seven legs but Australia managed to hold onto its lead, then stretched away on the sixth leg to win comfortably.

Winds on the day reached 32 knots in choppy conditions in Auckland, which hosted a SailGP event for the first time. The conditions fully tested the teams and the new T-Foils which were being used for the first time in this event.

Canada was unable to race on Day 2 because of an injury to a team member and France did not take part in the Auckland event because of equipment problems.

Spain set the fastest speed on the final day of 96 kph (59.6 mph). Australia took 10 points, Spain 9 and Britain 8 towards the series standings.

SailGP involves 12 national teams sailing identical 50-foot foiling catamarans. The foils allow the boats to rise up and “fly” across the water at speeds of up to 100kmh (60mph). There are 13 events leading up to the series final in Dubai in late November. MDT/AP