**Ben Glover is in San Francisco courtesy of Sail GP, covering the final race of the 2021/2022 championship and Australia’s quest for $1.4 million
Three of the best sailors in the world have started the mind games ahead of Monday’s (AEDT) Sail GP grand final, with USA driver Jimmy Spithill throwing darts at Australia’s Tom Slingsby and Japan’s Nathan Outteridge to kick off a sledge-fest at the San Francisco Grand Prix.
Slingsby and Spithill have already sealed their qualification for the $1.4 million grand final on Monday, while Outteridge’s Japan would have to make some diabolical mistakes on Sunday to let their grip on the third spot in the grand final slip.
The three Australian nationals have been competing with each other for decades and have a fierce, albeit friendly rivalry.
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So when Spithill was invited to speak about the two men who stand between him and a massive cash prize, he was more than happy to light the fuse ahead of a tense weekend of racing.
Spithill insists his USA team is the underdog of the three boats due to the fact that this is their first full Sail GP season, whereas Slingsby and Outteridge have been leading their teams since the competition was founded in 2019.
Asked why he saw himself as an outsider, Spithill used the opportunity to roll a grenade at his two rivals sitting next to him at the podium, most pointedly at Outteridge, reminding him of his blown opportunity to win the inaugural series.
“Well, I would have hoped you media would have done some homework but if you’re looking at it, I’ll do it for you,” Spithill said.
“Tom is the defending champion, so you can start there. Nathan was also in the final and to be quite honest Nathan had the (USD) million dollars in his hand last time. It slipped through and Tom got past, we saw that.
“I believe these two are favourites but also they’ve done more time than anyone else in these boats, clearly. It’s no surprise to see these two guys right up there.”
Spithill then mounted pressure on Slingsby, claiming the Sail GP title was the defending champion’s to lose before adding that the Australian crew had opened the door by capsizing in practice on Friday (AEDT), in an incident that caused “extensive damage” to the boat and put Slingsby’s crew out of the practice races on Saturday (AEDT).
“We’re not there yet but we’ve definitely bridged the gap and every day we go out there we take another step forward,” Spithill said.
“Now Tom won’t be out there today, so it’s another opportunity for Nath and ourselves and everyone else in the rest of the fleet to try and bridge that gap the Aussies seem to have, especially in strong conditions.”
After Spithill had set the scene for a spicy press conference, Slingsby used his first answer to return serve, claiming the USA driver had taken some liberties by grabbing hold of the underdog tag.
“I kind of feel like we need a violin playing every time he tells us how hard done by he is,” Slingsby said.
“I’d prefer to be in the position of favourite. The reason we’re favourites is that we’ve proved we can perform under pressure time and time again and I wouldn’t trade our position for anyone else’s.”
Slingsby conceded that he had let that ‘favourite’ position slip somewhat by capsizing in practice but added that he believed the lessons Australia’s crew had learned by watching the incident back would strengthen them for the race weekend.
He was then forced to answer claims that he had a “temper” which may have been responsible for the capsize, a claim that Outteridge delighted in.
“I’ve known about the red mist for a long time and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near him after the incident yesterday, I’m sure there was mist flying everywhere,” Outteridge said.
“I’ve heard they’ve been saying I’ve got a bad temper and that my temper might be what loses us this final,” Slingsby said.
“Look, I do have a temper. It’s sort of known as red mist on board when I start losing my temper. But look, my passion for this is also what gets us to the top and I’m not going to change the way I am.
“Obviously I’ve got to keep my cool in important parts of the race and make sure my temper doesn’t cost us the race. But it’s also what makes our team so good. We’re really passionate and we work so hard and we know there’s a lot on the line, so we’re going to keep the same mentality we’ve had all year and with the conditions we’ve had in San Francisco we’re really happy with our chances.”
And the conditions could well tilt the final in Australia’s favour, with Slingsby’s team having built a reputation for powering away from the field when the wind is strong.
San Francisco is famous for its windy conditions, which are forecast for this weekend, and likely to play a huge role in determining who walks away with the $1.4 million.
Outteridge conceded that the very fact the grand final was being held in San Francisco had forced Japan to make some crew changes to get more weight and power in their boat before December’s Sydney Grand Prix in an effort to bridge the gap to Australia in windy conditions.
“We’ve had a bit of a knack of doing quite well in the light air and this place is known to be quite windy so we’ve made a few changes throughout the season to try and improve our strong wind performance and we’re just chipping away and getting ready for (Monday),” Outteridge said.
“We had to get a bit heavier as an overall crew weight. We started off this season and we were in the lighter weight category and for those who don’t know the details, when you’re in the lighter end you end up carrying corrector weight, so you have lead on the boat to try and get the riding weight to be the same but we were also probably lacking a bit of power in the handles from the grinders, so ahead of Sydney we made a couple of crew changes, got some more heavier stronger grinders at the front of the boat, put Leo Takahashi into the flight control position.
“So he’s been re-learning his role in the boat but that 30 kilos of extra crew weight seems to be making a difference to our straight line performance now. It’s just little things that make a difference in these boats and that’s one thing that we’re seeing quite a big difference.”
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