New York has a habit of delivering drama no one scripted, and the SailGP competition there was no different. For Giles Scott, the day had already turned complicated before a race was sailed: the wrong wing selected, unsettled and gusty conditions, a boat he admitted ahead of the start was wobbling all over the place. Then, with seconds to go before the Race 3 gun, everything changed for NorthStar Canada, and not because of anything they did.
Three boats found each other at the worst possible moment. Red Bull Italy had returned to the start line too early and rotated hard to stay behind it. The American team, coming in fast from below, either failed to spot the manoeuvre or had no time to respond. As the windward boat, the obligation to give way was theirs. They did not take it. Brazil was caught in the middle with nowhere to go. The broadcast commentary faltered for a moment, then came back: "Oh, wow. That's three boats."
Safety crew were on the water immediately. No serious injuries were confirmed, though anyone watching the footage would have said the relief owed more to the sailors than to the hardware. The Americans were disqualified. Italy and Brazil were out. Three of the day's strongest contenders were gone before they reached Mark 1.
The remaining fleet sailed on past the wreckage. Scott, who had brushed off the pre-race chaos with a quiet "we're just plugging away," led from the first mark and never came off it. ROCKWOOL Denmark's Nicolai Sehested tucked into second. Tom Slingsby and the BONDS Flying Roos came third, and this is where the day took a genuinely unlikely turn.
Slingsby had damaged his boat before Race 1. He started that opening race from ninth position and, by any reasonable reading, looked finished. Three races later he was confirmed for the event final. The commentary team reached for Houdini as their reference point. Slingsby himself would probably say he just kept sailing.
Emirates GBR crossed the line in fifth, but the disqualifications reshuffled the order above Dylan Fletcher's crew, and they came through as well.
Three boats would contest the event final on the Hudson: NorthStar Canada, Emirates GBR, and the BONDS Flying Roos. One race, winner takes all, with the rest of the fleet left watching from the dock.
| POS | TEAM | DRIVER | POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NorthStar | Giles Scott | 10 |
| 2 | ROCKWOOL Racing | Nicolai Sehested | 9 |
| 3 | BONDS Flying Roos | Tom Slingsby | 8 |
| 4 | Germany by Deutsche Bank | Erik Heil | 7 |
| 5 | Emirates GBR | Dylan Fletcher | 6 |
| 6 | DS Automobiles FRA | Quentin Delapierre | 5 |
| 7 | Explora Journeys Swiss | Sebastien Schneiter | 4 |
| 8 | Artemis | Nathan Outteridge | 3 |
| 9 | Los Gallos | Diego Botin | 0 |
| 9 | Black Foils | Peter Burling | 0 |
| 9 | Red Bull Italy | Phil Robertson | 0 |
| 9 | Mubadala Brazil | Martine Grael | 0 |
| 9 | U.S. SailGP Team | Taylor Canfield | 0 |
