Sailing–Australia lead Germany SailGP, NZ stay ahead overall
Australia's Bonds Flying Roos ended the opening day of the inaugural Germany Sail Grand Prix with an eight-point lead over New Zealand thanks to an impressive late charge on Saturday.
Australia shrugged off a start-line penalty in the second race of the day, as Tom Slingsby's crew clawed back to finish third before out-duelling Spain to win race three and coming second to New Zealand in the day's fourth and last race.
Australia's tally of 32 points put them ahead of Peter Burling's New Zealand, who won race four. The Kiwis ended the day on 24 points, protecting their overall lead in the championship standings.
Quentin Delapierre's France finished third, level with New Zealand on 24 points, after being cleared to compete following overnight repairs to a damaged starboard rudder.
Rockwool Racing Denmark broke SailGP's racing and overall F50 speed record during the third race, as they nailed the start and accelerated to a massive 103.93 km/h.
Germany (Deutsche Bank) won the opening race to the delight of the Sassnitz crowd, a bright start for the team who began the weekend 11th overall on zero points.
Britain's Emirates GBR won race two and finished sixth on 19 points. Their hopes of a strong opening day were dashed after a collision with United States in the fourth race which left their F50 with a hole and tore away the U.S. boat's port bow.
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No one was injured in the incident and the American team will be docked 12 event points.
Following their victory in Portsmouth, England last month, New Zealand will bid for a second successive SailGP win on Sunday. REUTERS
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