Diego Botin likes San Francisco. After winning the Season 4 SailGP Championship at the venue, he led his Spanish team to dominate again in 2025 when the league returned to northern California on March 22-23. After winning the 7-race qualifying stage, the Spanish beat Canada and France in the three-boat Final.
The Final followed a dramatic seventh fleet race, in which Australia suffered a dramatic wing collapse as it approached the start line. While all athletes were accounted for and unharmed, the cause of the incident is not yet known.
The wing collapse meant Australia, which was sitting in third place was unable to race in the three-boat Final. This meant France took the Aussies’ qualifying place instead.
Despite Spain winning the Final, it was France which blasted across the start line at speed, securing the all-important inside line at Mark 1. But unflappable decision making by Spain saw Botin’s squad split the …