It’s all or nothing. This is what they thought of the Spanish SailGP team, which did not go their way on the first day in Abu Dhabi, at the conclusion of the Rolex SailGP Championship. Diego Botin’s team obliged … To give Abu Dhabi a coup of power to get closer to the podium, he took to the race track determined to revolutionize everything from the beginning. He did it without a net, without a margin and only with the conviction that this was the right day to attack.
But today didn’t help. With little wind and only three crew members aboard each F50, the regatta took an unexpected turn. The big teams became small and the less popular teams at the top took their chances. Neither the British, nor the New Zealanders, nor the Australians, nor the Spaniards were able to show the level expected of them in such a difficult tournament.
Spain, which could benefit from this scenario in theory, was not able to repeat last year’s sensations on the same regatta course. A bad start in the first race forced us to row against the current from the start. Then came three good starts, so explosive that two of them ended in a penalty for early starts, forcing them to make way for the rest of the fleet and start a new comeback.
Despite this, the team managed to put themselves into the third round, just three points ahead of Tom Slingsby’s Australia, even being just two points through several sections. A flash sparked expectations…until today’s coldest day tested morale again.
Once on the ground, Putin explained the difficulties: “With the very large fleet and very little wind, we all stayed very close to the line. It is very difficult to avoid going to the sea. We talked about it: we wanted to push, and we went a little too far.
After this first round in Abu Dhabi, Spain finished the day in last place, behind Bond’s Flying Ross. For now, almost everything remains the same as neither team will add extra points. The consolation, simple but real, is that the classification remains very tight. As long as there is a margin, no matter how small, the Spaniards will cling to hope.