Slingsby and Flying Roos lead Rio event after sixth straight fleet race victory

Two penalties, a fleet teetering on the edge of protest chaos, and yet Australia walked away with another race win. Tom Slingsby and the BONDS Flying Roos are producing performances in Rio that make brutally difficult conditions look like a minor inconvenience.

Race six descended into near-anarchy before the fleet had even crossed the start line. Switzerland filed six protests in the opening moments, Italy and Germany both lodged complaints at the gun, and Sweden contributed one more. Australia collected a penalty after fouling Switzerland, and GBR found themselves in the same position after tangling with Italy. Both teams had given themselves a mountain to climb before racing had properly begun.

What followed from the Flying Roos showed exactly where Australia sits right now. Penalty served, they set about hunting down the boats ahead with quiet efficiency. Tenth at the first mark, 11 seconds behind the leaders as Denmark and USA drove clear at the front, Australia had already climbed to second by mark two, sitting nine seconds off Denmark's lead. A team that had started the race going backwards was already pressing the front of the fleet.

Mark three told a different story. Australia held the lead, five seconds up on Denmark, and from there the gap simply grew. Denmark trailed by 35 seconds at mark five, Spain had muscled their way to second at 15 seconds back, and Sweden sat fourth at 42 seconds. The front group had separated cleanly from the rest, and everything behind them was a contest for leftovers.

Spain had fouled Australia on the water and taken their own penalty in the process, but held on well enough to cross the line in second, 18 seconds back. Denmark claimed third at 22 seconds, Sweden fourth at 26, France fifth at 39. Canada finished sixth, Brazil seventh, USA eighth, Germany ninth and GBR tenth. Switzerland was eleventh, Italy last and still out on the course as racing wrapped up.

GBR's start penalty left them 39 seconds adrift at the first mark with very little room to move. They worked through to tenth, but any realistic chance of reaching the final had already evaporated. Six fleet races into two days of competition in Rio, and Emirates GBR are heading home without points of consequence.

The conditions around Sugarloaf on Sunday have been a puzzle most of the fleet has struggled to crack. Wind tumbling over and around the mountain produces unpredictable gusts and shifts, with dead patches capable of dropping a boat off its foils at exactly the wrong moment. Teams that have managed to stay connected through those lulls and accelerate cleanly once pressure returns have been the ones holding the front positions. Across both race five and race six, Australia has done precisely that, and the Flying Roos head into the final fleet race holding the event lead with genuine momentum behind them.

One fleet race remains. The top three advance to the final.

Race results

Fleet race 6 results

Fleet race total results after Race 6