Diego Botin's Spain continued its steady climb up the SailGP table with a polished runner-up finish at the Rio Sail Grand Prix, beaten only by Tom Slingsby's Australian machine in the three-boat Final on April 12.
The 2024 Paris Olympic gold medallist, who leads the Los Gallos crew, posted a fleet-race scoreline of 5-1-8-6-4-2-4 in Rio — good enough to snatch the outside lane in the Final, where he chose to gamble on the right-hand side of the short Sugarloaf course to close the gap on Australia.
"I think he takes a bit of a loss initially to do it," commentator Peter Burling — skipper of the sidelined New Zealand team — said on the live broadcast as Botin peeled away on his solo tack. "It's worth a roll of the dice, I think, for me here, really. And like you say, on average it's been good that way."
The move narrowed the gap but not enough to threaten Slingsby, whose Flying Roos maintained right-of-way and clean air at the leeward gate. A Swedish umpire penalty on Nathan Outteridge's Artemis crew, for failing to give Spain mark room, briefly opened the door to second place, which Botin closed down through the final legs.
Spain's overall Rio result lifted Botin's team into fourth place in the Season 6 standings on 25 points, within striking distance of Australia (35), Great Britain (28) and the United States (27). A solitary Sydney event win earlier in the season had already signalled the team's readiness to contest titles, and Rio confirmed the upward trajectory.
The event also offered a telling insight into Spain's upwind speed on a venue where breezy starts were rare. Commentators noted Botin's decision-making as mature, praising his willingness to concede small losses in exchange for tactical leverage — a trait that has defined his Olympic-winning campaigns in the 49er class.
With SailGP now heading to Bermuda on May 9-10, Spain is arguably the form team outside the Australia-Great Britain rivalry. Los Gallos have finished 12th, 3rd, 3rd and 2nd across the opening four events, and are one of only four crews with multiple podium finishes in Season 6. The chase is on.
