NZ Herald's Chris Reive reports from San Francisco ahead of SailGP season finale this weekend. Video / NZ Herald
Kiwi sailor Phil Robertson has seen his time as a member of the Spanish SailGP team come to an abrupt end, losing his spot driving the boat for this weekend's grand final in San Francisco.
Robertson has driven the Spanish boat at all seven events on the SailGP season twocalendar, and the team sit in fourth place on the ladder with the prospect of leaving San Francisco with the US$1 million ($1.436m) prize still alive.
However, the team have opted to look to the future and hand the wheel to Jordi Xammar for the final event of the season, with team chief executive María del Mar de Ros not holding anything back in addressing the situation.
"The thing is that Phil, he feels he is superior in some sort of way, and that they [the crew] are kids. In fact, in one of the episodes [of SailGP's online behind-the-scenes show Racing on the Edge] he was calling them 'a bunch of kids'," del Mar de Ros said.
"Maybe if he felt more cohesion with the rest of the team, the decision would have been a bit different.
"We love having a Spanish team, because the purpose of the team has always been to develop youth, the sailing industry, and Spain. But, of course, we have to focus on performance as well, and this race is going to be a special one."
Phil Robertson has seen his time as a member of the Spanish SailGP team come to an abrupt end. Photo / Photosport
Robertson addressed his exit from the team, suggesting they made a decision to focus on developing the team for next season - which begins in Bermuda in mid-May.
"We took this team from zero experience to somewhere near the top of the leaderboard, and unfortunately the team has decided that they want to focus on next year and move on.
"It's sport at the end of the day, and you never want to write yourself off. But, unfortunately, this team wrote us off."
Robertson, who sailed for the Chinese team in season one before joining the Spanish crew, will now turn his attention to making a splash in season three with Team Canada, who will be sailing their inaugural SailGP campaign next season.
Phil Robertson will move to Team Canada for SailGP season three. Photo / Getty Images
Spain go into this weekend's final regatta in fourth place on 43 points, eight points behind third-placed Japan and one point ahead of New Zealand.
The table could see a shake-up after the five fleet races in San Francisco are completed, with the team at the top of the table bagging eight points - with the points total decreasing by one as you go down the ladder.
While neither Spain nor New Zealand can jump into the top three on points gained in the regatta, should one of the top three have an issue with their boat and be unable to sail in Monday's grand final, the next best team will take their place in the $1 million shootout.
Watch the SailGP grand final live this Sunday 27 & Monday 28 March. Coverage from 10am on Sky Sport and free-to-air on nzherald.co.nz/sailgp
