Australia share the lead with Denmark after the first day of the Sydney SailGP, bouncing back from a disappointing last hit-out in pursuit of their first overall win this season.
In stronger winds than at any of the seven previous events, Denmark and Tom Slingsby’s Australia finished with 26 points each after three races on Sydney Harbour.
The experienced crews were the most consistent on Saturday, with in-form New Zealand (24 points) sitting in third place on the rankings.
Looking to recover from a season-worst seventh-placed finish at last month’s Abu Dhabi SailGP, Australia won the first race, came second in the second and finished fourth in the third.
Racing will continue on Sunday with two more fleet races and a final for the three best-performing boats across the event to that point.
Having failed to win any of the season’s seven previous regattas, Australia will head into the back-end of the campaign with confidence if they claim an overall victory at home.
The Canadian and German boats were at the centre of drama on Saturday.
Languishing in eighth spot on the rankings ahead of Sydney, Canada withdrew after experiencing mechanical issues finishing last in the first race.
The fleet was reduced to nine boats thereafter.
Contesting their first Sydney SailGP, Germany came close to capsizing late in the second race as they attempted to evade the French crew around the penultimate mark.
The boat had to give way to France, the defending Sydney SailGP champions, but hesitated and missed the mark, eventually finishing the race in eighth spot.
The United States and Great Britain were the most disappointing boats; the Americans finished the second and third races in last place.
Team GB, in eighth spot for this event, appear to still be finding their feet under new driver Giles Scott, who only joined the team in Abu Dhabi.
Australia dominated race one, foiling on their way to the third mark to snatch the USA’s lead.
Slingsby quickly turned the race into a runaway and finished 65 seconds ahead of the second-placed Danes.
Just after the fourth mark in the second race, Australia made the best of upwind conditions to storm past Denmark and to the top of the chasing pack.
Around the penultimate mark, Slingsby’s boat was breathing down the neck of the young Spanish team but could not take the lead and had to be content with second.
Under the guidance of fill-in driver Nathan Outteridge, New Zealand built up a big lead sailing downwind from the second mark of the final race.
Boats reached speeds of 80km/h in the speedy final hit-out but Australia were unable to break the top three despite a late challenge on the French.