The Foil Debrief: Valencia SailGP's biggest shock

Welcome to The Foil Debrief, this first episode on Spain's shock elimination at the Spanish Sail Grand Prix – and it wasn't the only twist of the weekend. Andy Rice and Bene Donovan run through a light-wind Valencia that saw the fleet back on the big wing and the entire regatta compressed into a single group race before the final. Spain's stunning Saturday – two wins and a second – counted for nothing once a late move for the line left them with no room and no way back. The final had its own drama: Italy's first-ever SailGP final ended before it began after a one-second over-early start, Emirates GBR produced one of the passes of the season to slip past Artemis on the run to the bottom gate, and Australia's fight back from last to fifth kept them alive. Up front, a tactical error at the bottom gate from Tom Slingsby opened the door for USA to snatch the event win, along with light-wind specialists USA, Italy and Denmark all making the final on a weekend practically built for them. We also weigh up whether SailGP's proposed format change could have saved Spain, and why the current 90-minute window leaves no room for it. Full results here: https://thefoil.com/news/usa-take-valencia-title-as-one-bad-race-ends-los-gallos-final-hopes/ Follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. Become a member now: https://www.youtube.com/@WeAreTheFoil/join Listen to our podcast on Spotify and other platforms: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/NSR2217026422 #TheFoil #WeAreTheFoil #SailGP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices