Spain Makes History: SailGP Champions

Spain has stunned the top teams, Australia and New Zealand, by clinching the Season 4 Championship title in an action-packed grand final in the iconic San Francisco Bay.

The team, led by Diego Botín and featuring Balearic sailor Joan Cardona, secured a spot in the grand final after fending off tough competition from France in the fleet races, nailing the crucial inside line at Mark 1.

However, Spain's lead was slim, with Australia and New Zealand closely following, increasing the pressure with every maneuver. Spain pushed the driving height as high as possible to extract maximum speed from their F50, reaching a top speed of 90 km/h. Disaster struck Australia in the penultimate leg of the race when a messy maneuver caused the three-time SailGP champions to fall off their foils. Despite losing speed at the final buoy, which allowed the Australians to make threatening advances on the young team, the Spaniards managed to gain momentum just in time to cross the finish line, ending Australia's three-race winning streak. In the end, it was Spain that sailed the shortest distance—10.5 km compared to Australia's 10.6 km and New Zealand's 10.8 km—and executed the fewest maneuvers, only five compared to Australia's eight and New Zealand's twelve.

All this despite Spain having a flight time of 97%, lower than New Zealand's 100% and equal to Australia's. Spain also had the lowest average speed, 62.3 km/h compared to Australia's 62.4 km/h and New Zealand's 63 km/h. The victory was even more dramatic as Diego Botín revealed that the team broke a rudder during the final downwind leg: "We were lucky," he said after the race, "we just managed to stay ahead." The triumph marks an incredible turnaround for Diego Botín's crew, which finished last in Season 3 and underwent a disruptive team reorganization. But the Spain Team made strides throughout Season 4, winning their first event in Los Angeles before defeating New Zealand and Australia in Bermuda. Speaking after the race, Botín said: "I can't describe the feeling right now, it's a huge adrenaline rush. I can't believe we did it in Bermuda and here again in the Grand Final in San Francisco."