Phil Robertson steered Red Bull Italy to two race wins in Valencia, the best result in the team's brief SailGP history and the clearest sign yet that its quiet, methodical build is starting to pay off.
Robertson's crew dominated races one and three, nailing both starts and turning early leads into comfortable victories. Race two was the only hiccup, when a late timing change left Red Bull Italy poorly positioned and forced a delayed start, the sole blemish on an otherwise landmark day on the water.
"It's a real positive to bounce back from that with another win," Robertson said. "Race one was a win, race three was a win, so yeah, really cool just to nail two starts and get a couple of bullets on the board."
For Robertson, getting to Mark 1 clean was the difference-maker. With the F50s carrying their larger wings, he explained, boats caught in disturbed air further back in the fleet struggle to claw their way forward.
"The execution of manoeuvres is so much easier when you're in the front. Makes you look good!" he said. "Getting to mark one in P1 is crucial and then you're in clear air the whole race."
The double win carries extra weight given how much work has gone into this young team behind the scenes. Sitting 11th on the season leaderboard, Red Bull Italy has been quietly building towards a result like this one, according to Robertson, who described the recent grind in blunt terms.
"This team's been grafting for a long time now," he said. "The last three months we've just put in a huge effort to try and get better. It's no secret in life that the harder you work the better you're going to get."
Results hadn't always matched the ambition, but Valencia changed that.
"It was nice to validate today that a lot of the hard work is starting to pay off," he said.
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