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Aussie sailing rivalry hits Hudson River

AAP
The US SailGP boat nicknamed 'Lady Liberty' tests the waters in New York Harbor.
Camera IconThe US SailGP boat nicknamed 'Lady Liberty' tests the waters in New York Harbor.

Australian skippers Tom Slingsby and Nathan Outteridge are good mates off the water.

In the fledging SailGP global league, there's a nice little rivalry developing between them.

Slingsby's Team Australia has beaten Outteridge's Team Japan in the match race finals of the first two regattas in the series, which hits the Hudson River in New York on Friday and Saturday .

"Nathan and I have known each other for 28 years or so, and we've competed against each other for 25 of that, so we're good rivals, good mates," said Slingsby.

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"I was a groomsman at his wedding. I'd like to think we're good mates.

"On the water, I don't want to lose to him. After the last event he said some things I didn't like, so there's a bit more emotion coming into it. The victories when we do beat him are sweeter, and when we do lose to him, the rivalry grows more."

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So far, Australia leads Japan 95-91. Great Britain is third with 79 points, followed by the United States with 68, France 61 and China 60.

At the last regatta in San Francisco in early May, Team Japan won all three races on Day 1 before technical issues plagued it on the second day. It still reached the match race final, where Team Australia won again.

"As anyone who watches it closely knows, either event could have gone either way with Japan. We've performed when it mattered," said Slingsby.

New York is the third of five stops in the inaugural season, followed by Cowes, England, and the finale in Marseille, France, which will be highlighted by a US$1 million (A$1.45m), winner-take-all match race final.

"We were on opposite teams in the America's Cup and opposite teams here. We want to beat each other, but it's not win-at-all-costs from our side at all," said Outteridge.

Slingsby, 34, and Outteridge, 33, both won gold medals for Australia in the 2012 Olympics. Slingsby then helped Oracle Team USA in its epic comeback to win the America's Cup in 2013, and was with Oracle when it lost the Auld Mug to Emirates Team New Zealand in 2017.

Outteridge sailed for Artemis in the last two America's Cup regattas.

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