Rio SailGP practice day leaves backmarkers still searching for clues

Practice racing on Guanabara Bay delivered a familiar picture at the front of the SailGP fleet - and offered little comfort to those looking to raise their game after a slow start to the season.

The fleets were divided into two groups of six, with each group contesting three short practice heats. Australia and Spain each won two of Friday's six races, with Sweden and Great Britain claiming one apiece. For teams sitting in the bottom half of the season standings, it was supposed to be a chance to build some morale-boosting momentum. That didn't happen.

We might have expected more from France, but it didn’t quite happen for Quentin Delapierre’s team. The French nailed one of the starts and rounded mark one in the lead. But in fairly short order they had dropped to fifth as they were passed by rivals on both sides of the downwind leg. 

It goes to show that putting a team together does not happen overnight. Even if you couldn’t ask for better replacements for their team regulars who are still recovering from injuries from the Auckland clash - Glenn Ashby taking over wing trim from Leigh McMillan, and Liv McKay for Manon Audinet - the French may struggle to find their form this weekend.

That's the thing about the F50. There's no hiding place. A small hesitation in communication, a momentary lapse in coordination, and your lead evaporates. Everything has to click. 

USA had a quiet afternoon. Not a bad one, exactly, but hardly what you'd expect from one of the standout performers in the early part of this season. Canada will know they left something on the table. And Brazil? Their results were underwhelming, though it was noticeable how hard they were pushing the foiling. It looked less like racing for position and more like testing – perhaps experimenting with technique to get the boat foiling rather than chasing VMG as they would in a race that actually mattered. You never quite know what teams' motives are in these training sessions.

Conditions were tricky and not too exciting. Speaking to Robert Scheidt, the multiple Olympic medallist from Brazil, he said you don’t get too many crappy days in a row. Which means that Saturday should be better, and the forecast for Sunday is actually pretty nice.

After such a long time bringing SailGP to South America for the first time, we’ve got our fingers crossed that the wind fills in and the sun breaks through for a stellar weekend on Guanabara Bay.