SYDNEY, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Tom Slingsby and his Aussie crew on Sunday delivered their season-first victory at the iconic Sydney Harbor in the international sailing competition Sail Grand Prix (SailGP).

A cloudless Sunday saw the high-octane final of Australian SailGP unfold among Denmark, New Zealand, and home favorites Australia - the top three teams after five fleet races.

Tension was palpable from the beginning, as Australia sought to end their title drought in Season Four while Denmark also remained eager for a maiden event championship.

Both Australia and New Zealand picked up an early start penalty, with the lead slipping into the hands of the Danes. But the home team edged past Denmark while turning at Gate Three and ultimately emerged victorious in a tight tussle against the consistent Scandinavians.

"It has been so hard to win an event all year and we haven't managed to do it for so long. But then to be able to do it in Sydney, when New Zealand have won the last couple of events and been the stronger team for the second half of this season, and to turn that on them and win in Australia, that's huge for us," Slingsby told Xinhua post-match.

When he looked back on the thrilling final, the 39-year-old helmsman recalled that he once anticipated his crew to sail away after passing the Danish team and rising to the top of the fleet.

"For the fact, we couldn't do that and they came back and almost overtook us. Full credit to those guys. Not many teams have actually caught us back in those conditions. We usually feel once we get clear air, no one ahead of us we'll have to stop," said Slingsby.

"They kept the pressure on. If we made any mistake there at the end, they were going to pounce. Super proud of our team," he added.

With two fleet races left to secure a berth in the three-boat event final, the second race day saw all ten teams turn up at the start line, including the Canadian team which finished last in the opening race on Saturday and then had to withdraw from the rest of the day's racing due to a technical issue.

In the fourth fleet race of the event, the show was stolen by the debutants Germany. Olympic sailing bronze medallist Erik Heil and his crew steered their boat to fly across the finish line in the first place, followed by New Zealand and Switzerland.

France, helmed by Quentin Delapierre, notched up a win in the last fleet race but their hope for a podium finish was dashed with only two points behind the third-placed Australia.

After Sydney's event, the three-time defending champions Australia currently sits atop the overall leaderboard of SailGP Season Four with 66 points, followed by New Zealand and Denmark. Enditem

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