Day 1, Group A, Race 3 – Phil Robertson had the worst possible response to winning Race 1: a dead-last, zero-point finish in Race 2. Red Bull Italy answered with the best one, leading Group A's third and final race of the day from Mark 1 to the flag and keeping the group wide open heading into Sunday.
A crowded start and a fast pop
Seven boats packed the start box for the day's most consequential race, and it was Robertson who found the cleanest gas. Italy accelerated onto the foils first, hit 30 km/h just ahead of the fleet, and rounded Mark 1 with the faster angle despite Emirates GBR holding right of way at the mark. Dylan Fletcher's crew had the rules on their side and not the speed to use them.
The course flips, and GBR pay for it
For most of the day the fleet had favoured a right-hand route around the course. This race, several boats broke the pattern and went left, chasing a wind field that had shifted more breeze toward that side. Italy and Emirates GBR both committed to it; Explora Journeys Swiss, under three-time Olympian Sébastien Schneiter, made a late call to go the other way instead.
It worked out for everyone except Great Britain. Investing hard to hold the foils on a leg where the breeze kept dying, Fletcher's boat dropped below the 28 km/h threshold needed to stay airborne and came crashing back onto the water, handing the place to the Swiss, who'd found the same big gains downwind that Emirates GBR themselves had used to pass a rival two races earlier.
Artemis steals third at the death
Artemis came into the final approach with right of way over Emirates GBR, and Nathan Outteridge held his ground through the last mark to claim third, denying Fletcher's crew a result that had looked comfortable minutes earlier. It capped a remarkable recovery: Artemis missed Race 1 entirely after a broken jib halyard, then backed it up with third in Race 2 and third again here. Flight control for this one belonged to Dave Gilmour, stepping into a role usually filled by Andy Maloney, and doing enough in marginal air to draw praise on the broadcast for matching him.
BONDS Flying Roos looked out of the picture for most of the race before Tom Slingsby clawed his way into fourth on the run home, a result worth more to the overall standings than the placing alone suggests. Emirates GBR's late collapse cost them the podium spot they'd held for most of the race; they crossed fifth. New Zealand and Brazil rounded out the fleet.
Group A after day one
Robertson's win and Slingsby's recovery leave BONDS Flying Roos and Red Bull Italy clear at the top of Group A after three races, 11 points and 10 points respectively, with Emirates GBR third on 7. If the group stood still here, those would be the two names through to Sunday's final, but two more races remain tomorrow and the gap behind the leaders is thin: Explora Journeys Swiss and Artemis are locked together on 6 points apiece, with Nathan Outteridge's crew making up in one day what a broken halyard cost them in the first race.
Result
Race 3 result (Group A): 1. Red Bull Italy (Phil Robertson), 2. Explora Journeys Swiss (Sébastien Schneiter), 3. Artemis (Nathan Outteridge), 4. BONDS Flying Roos (Tom Slingsby), 5. Emirates Great Britain (Dylan Fletcher), 6. Black Foils (Peter Burling), 7. Mubadala Brazil (Martine Grael)
Group A standings after Day 1: 1. BONDS Flying Roos 11pts, 2. Red Bull Italy 10pts, 3. Emirates Great Britain 7pts, 4. Explora Journeys Swiss 6pts, 5. Artemis 6pts, 6. Mubadala Brazil 3pts, 7. Black Foils 2pts
