Italy wins chaotic Rio fleet race as GBR endures wretched day on Guanabara Bay

Italy's first victory of the Rio event arrived wrapped in mayhem, a race remembered as much for the chaos as for the sailing itself. For the first time at this event, all 12 boats lined up together after Mubadala Brazil resolved its technical difficulties, giving the home crowd the complete field they had been waiting for since racing began.

What followed at the start was, by any measure, a disaster for most of the fleet. Not a single boat managed a clean crossing of the line, and the spreads at the first mark laid bare exactly how badly things had gone wrong. Canada arrived there more than a minute behind the leader. GBR was 51 seconds back. France was 37 seconds adrift, a gap pointing to something going seriously wrong in those opening moments. Italy had threaded a path through the wreckage to sit third, just 3.2 seconds off the lead and already positioned to threaten.

Denmark held the front at that first mark, with Italy breathing down their neck. The rest of the fleet was packed tightly behind, scrapping for every position. France made the most dramatic move of the early race, charging from their dire starting position to seize the lead by the second mark, leaving Denmark 43 seconds back in second. It looked like a stunning turnaround, but it did not last. By the third mark Italy had pushed through to the front, Denmark remained second at 20 seconds back, Australia had climbed to third a further 16 seconds behind, and France had dropped to fourth.

By the fourth mark the race had largely taken its final shape. Italy led Denmark by 14 seconds, France sat third at 27 seconds, and Australia fourth at 45 seconds. Behind them a sizeable gap separated this leading group from USA in fifth, already a full minute off the pace. The contest for the win had become a four-boat affair.

Italy held their composure through the final leg to take the race. Kiwi driver Robertson brought the boat across the finish line 15 seconds clear of Denmark, with Australia third a further 29 seconds back. France finished fourth, 44 seconds off the winner, and USA fifth at one minute and 26 seconds adrift.

Further down the fleet the gaps grew considerably. Sweden finished sixth, Switzerland seventh, Spain eighth in a race the team would sooner forget after two mid-race protests, both dismissed. Germany crossed ninth, with Mubadala Brazil tenth after sailing outside the course boundary and accepting a penalty. GBR finished eleventh following another difficult outing capped by a protest at the finish that came to nothing. Canada came last, two separate on-water penalties during the race having extinguished any realistic hope of a better result.

The protest log for the race was substantial. Switzerland alone lodged four protests. Canada filed two, both dismissed, before picking up two on-water penalties. Spain lodged two protests, Sweden one, GBR one at the finish. Every protest was cleared or resulted in no penalty, but the volume of incidents reflects how demanding and tightly contested the racing has been in Guanabara Bay's shifty, shifting pressure.

Rockwool Denmark's second place came at the end of a week that had begun in a courtroom rather than on the water. The team, owned by American Magic, arrived in Rio fresh from a legal dispute with the Team USA SailGP entry over Rockwool's use of a stylised American flag on their hull. Two American-connected teams had fought it out legally before a single race had been sailed. Denmark won the right to keep the flag, and backing that up with second place on the water made for a solid follow-up.

The picture for Emirates GBR looks considerably more troubling. Three races into the event, Fletcher's team has posted a retirement, a sixth, and an eleventh. They arrived in Rio leading the championship by three points, but that margin is now gone or close to it. A boat that had appeared untouchable through much of season six has endured a wretched day on Guanabara Bay, and they will need the remaining races to unfold very differently if they are to have any realistic hope of making the final.

Race results

Rio Fleet Race 3 results

Fleet race total results after Race 3