Spain wrote another page in their sailing history in Los Angeles making their first ever SailGP Final, and topping that achievement with an end to end race win.
The Spanish win came at the expense of some big scalps - most of whom failed to fire at critical moments of the regatta - the last of those being Tom Slingsby (AUS), who finished third in the Final - unable to execute his usual Houdini Act which he seems to save for the big and critical moments of the SailGP series, and which has won him the last three World Finals.
The Final appeared to be set for a comfortable win by the Spanish after they won the start and edged away on every leg to led by 500 metres - almost a full leg length of the Los Angeles course.
Ashore many of the big names of the sport could only watch and rue the errors which had seen them excluded from the Final. Those watching from the bleachers included multiple Olympic Gold medalists, multiple America's Cup winners, World Match Racing champions and the glitterati of the sailing world.
None more so than the Kiwis who muffed two starts in two days, and were twice sent by the Umpire to the back of the class; or the Brits who did the same in the fifth race, and recovered to finish eighth. USA's Jimmy Spithill who has been under pressure to perform showed flashed of his old form, but was unable to make his home Event Final.
Their performance was not just a result of a single error, which could have been easily dismissed by the team spin doctors, playing the "let's look ahead" card. In most cases there were multiple lapses, offset by good recoveries which were started but not able to be made to stick.
For some, it will be a very long six weeks to the next event in St Tropez, from September 10-11.
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