Chaos reigns on opening day of SailGP New York

New York was supposed to be the big one, and in a way it was – just not for the reasons anyone wanted.

A gusty, blustery Hudson, with a peak of 36 knots clocked, made craning the F50s in and out of the water a genuine hazard, and SailGP was left scrambling. This led to an adjusted format: a reduced fleet, scoring trimmed to a maximum three points for a win, and a grid decided not by who was quickest off the dock but by championship standing.

That last detail is where the eyebrows went up. With the boats launched in season order, only the top teams made it onto the water – Australia, Spain, GBR and the USA were the ones in the queue, and even then the Flying Roos didn’t manage to make the line due to technical issues.

SailGP insisted the racing would count, points and all for the weekend, but not the championship. That still raised an awkward question around the paddock: is it really cricket for the championship leaders to bank points, even if they are just for the weekend, against rivals who never got the chance to launch?

Australia and the USA never made the line for the opener, leaving Britain and Spain to contest the first one-on-one match race in SailGP history.

It was an eerily empty racecourse with just two F50s, the reigning British champions against the Spanish team that won at this venue last season. Emirates GBR didn't waste their moment. Dylan Fletcher's crew nailed the start, screaming off the line and round mark one at 97km/h while Los Gallos were still some way back.

From there it was about control. With the tide running against a gusty breeze, the F50s were wrestling around a treacherous, choppy course, and the British answer was to minimise the manoeuvres and take the shortest road home. They averaged 64km/h around the course and never let Diego Botín's Spaniards close the gap.

Spain threw everything at it, sailing high and right on the edge, and at one point clawed a 300-metre deficit back down to nothing. But it wasn’t enough. That ended a 16-race wait for a fleet win for the Brits. "It's obviously quite a different day. It's not what we expected," Fletcher said afterwards. "And it's full noise here on the 24-metre wing racing on the Hudson in these conditions."

Race 1
1 Great Britain
2 Spain

Spain made the better start this time, only for the Hudson to bite back: Fletcher's GBR, overpowered in the building breeze, peeled off and dropped a foil in for safety's sake – and moments later the Spanish bailed out of the same predicament. As both boats backed down from the extreme conditions, the race was pushed back.

90 seconds later, they went again, and this time there was a third boat on the water. The Americans managed to get on the course but had to join cold – no warm-up – and were immediately on the back foot against two teams already one race in.

The Brits led off the line this time, and for a while it looked like a repeat of race one. Then came gate four. The Spanish rolled the dice with a left turn, found more breeze, and snatched the lead clean away from the Brits. The two split at the next gate and Diego Botín refused to let it slip, holding a 100-metre cushion at the line.

One race apiece – and for the Spanish, a much-needed chance to find their feet. "In the last race we had no warm-up at all," Botín said. "Obviously sailing this boat in these conditions with no warm-up is really hard, and we are slowly getting there." Crewmate Florian Trittel added: "I think the racing on the Hudson can be different every time you race. Today is definitely one of those days. We’ve never raced in these conditions."

Race 2
1 Spain
2 Great Britain
3 United States

The final race of the day was the tightest of the lot, three boats refusing to give each other an inch down the opening stretch. Taylor Canfield's USA got off the line best in front of his home crowd, but by mark one Dylan Fletcher's GBR had wrestled the lead away, pushing the fleet high and opening the angle to steal the bear-away.

Canfield's squad were quick, smashing through 100km/h, the highest speed of the day. They threatened down leg three before having to duck behind the Brits on a cross, and that tussle was all Spain needed to take the lead.

From there it was control all the way to the line for the Spanish. GBR held second, with USA in third. Two out of three for Los Gallos, in circumstances no one in the paddock had seen before.

Botín knew exactly what those races banked might be worth heading into Sunday. "It's obviously way less points on the ground, but it's a big advantage not to have more points before Super Sunday," he said. "It's kind of what we get with the conditions we have today. We cannot fight Mother Nature and I think it's good, obviously, for us to be able to be out here."

Taylor Canfield, racing in his home waters, took the positives from a scrambled afternoon. "It's great to get out there in the end," he said. "Hats off to the guys on the shore. We didn't race in the first race, but yeah, good to get out there and get our few laps, see the race course and get racing in front of New York City, which is what we came here to do."

Race 3
1 Spain
2 Great Britain
3 United States

So that's New York day one in the books… Three races, two boats for the first two, three for the last, and a result that will sit uneasily with anyone who missed out through no fault of their own.

Spain walk away the clear winners of a strange afternoon, with two races out of three and visibly sharper with every lap. GBR took the opener and will rue a scrappy moment or two thereafter, and the USA, launched cold and thrown straight into the fray, can take real heart from their pace if not their points.

The hope now is for a cleaner slate tomorrow. The forecast points to lighter, more manageable winds – 15 to 30km/h rather than today's blustery chaos – and the intention is to have the full fleet craned in and back on the line for Sunday. After a day that asked more questions of the organisers than the sailors, everyone will be willing the apple to deliver something a little more straightforward.