Editor’s note: This story is part of The Athletic’s coverage of SailGP, an international sailing competition that has been likened to Formula 1 on water. Follow SailGP here.Taylor Canfield and his U.S. team were doing all the right things to send them on their way to a first victory on home waters in SailGP. After finishing second in Sunday’s first of three fleet races at the New York Sail Grand Prix, and easily winning the next, all the Americans needed was an average start in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. An average start would have most likely been enough to secure what looked like a certain place in the three-way fight for overall honours.But then it all unravelled so quickly for Canfield. Instead, somehow it was Tom Slingsby who emerged from a bruising day of unreliable wind and an unhealthy dose of boat-on-boat carnage to steer Australia to victory in the three-boat final. The British team pushed the Aussies hard all the way to a controversial finish, to end up in second, with Canada finishing third in Giles Scott’s first final of the 2026 season.Aussies defy their bad fortuneA carbon-crunching, three-way crash on the start line of the final fleet race will dominate people’s memories of a mad Sunday, making Australia’s victory of resilience somewhat of a footnote at the end of a wacky weekend. More of the crash in a moment.There were so many times over the weekend when it looked like Australia’s great run of form and fortune had finally expired. Yet just two days after Slingsby’s celebrity team co-owners — Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds — announced a Disney+ docuseries following the team’s progress through the SailGP season, the Bonds Flying Roos continue to go from strength to strength.Slingsby knew he’d enjoyed his share of luck, too, however. After a big nosedive Saturday put them out of action, the shore crew had worked most of the night to repair and ready the green-and-gold boat for action Sunday. Then, when the boat hit a piece of unidentified debris in the Hudson River while getting in some practice before the racing began, one of the rudders broke. The Aussies were looking unlikely to make it in time for the first race, but, again, the repair team worked their magic and got the wounded Roos up and running again.