Delapierre steers French cat toward a spot in SailGP’s $2 million, winner-take-all Grand Final

By BERNIE WILSON The Associated Press

Quentin Delapierre skippered France to finishes of 1-3-3 in a remarkable performance on San Francisco Bay to move close to advancing to SailGP’s $2 million, winner-take-all Grand Final, the biggest payday in sailing. Three-time defending SailGP champion Tom Slingsby steered Australia’s Flying Roo 50-foot foiling catamaran to finishes of 5-1-8 to all but assure a spot in Sunday’s Grand Final, which will follow the conclusion of the San Francisco regatta. Peter Burling and the Team New Zealand Black Foils have already clinched a spot in the Grand Final after winning five of the previous 12 regattas in Season 4 of tech billionaire Larry Ellison’s global league.