NEW YORK (Reuters) -Reigning champions Spain put in a battling performance on the second day of the sixth round of SailGP on Sunday, beating New Zealand and France in the final race in New York to clinch consecutive wins as the season reached the halfway point.
Coming off their season’s first victory in San Francisco in March, Diego Botin’s team went five points clear into day two and overcame a slump in race five to make the top three.
With shifting winds in the shadows of the Statue of Liberty, Spain took control of the showdown on the Hudson River with an impeccable start, arriving three seconds ahead of New Zealand at gate two and three, and held their lead to clinch the victory.
Peter Burling’s New Zealand, winners in New York last year, lost more distance in the final stages and reached the finish line 43 seconds behind the Spaniards.
The win saw Spain move up two places in the championship table on 46 points as they moved above three-times champions Australia, who finished fifth in New York, by one point.
But it was not all smooth sailing for Spain on the event’s final day.
They started off well with a second-place finish in the day’s opening race four, 16 seconds behind Martine Grael’s Brazil, who won their first-ever fleet race at SailGP since joining the league at the beginning of the season.
The Brazilians, who sat fifth after day one, were hopeful of a top-three finish, and were well positioned for just that when they finished fourth in the next race.
A tricky race five, meanwhile, did a lot of damage to Spain, who were 11th and dropped from top spot to fourth in the event standings.
Botin’s crew earned a penalty in the decisive race six but made massive gains and got ahead of Brazil on the second-to-last leg to secure a spot in the event final.
Australia held onto their early lead to win the sixth race, grabbing their second victory of the event after they came out on top in the second race on Saturday.
France, who sailed very consistently on both days, put in a flawless performance to pick up a win in race five.
The season next moves to Europe, first returning to Britain as the fleet races in Portsmouth from July 19-20 before heading to Germany in August for the very first time.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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