Australia (left), Britain and Japan race past Alcatraz Island during SailGP competition on Sunday.

Tom Slingsby has skippered Australia to victory over Japan on San Francisco Bay in the match-race final of the second leg of the SailGP global league.

The Australians have won the first two regattas in the new series, which is sailed in 50-foot foiling catamarans that are capable of sailing at about 50 knots (90km/h).

Slingsby steered the Aussies to finishes of third and first in Sunday’s first two races to earn a spot in the final against Nathan Outteridge and the Japanese team, which won all three Saturday races before finishing second and fourth on Sunday.

“We’re stoked. It’s no secret that we struggled all week,” Olympic gold medallist Slingsby said.Australia also beat Japan in the final of the inaugural regatta in Sydney in mid-February.

Australian Outteridge, an Olympic gold and silver medallist, said a software issue meant Japan were sailing blind around the course.

“As soon as something doesn’t work, it makes it very hard,” he said. “Considering all that happened today, to still come second here and still pushing hard is great.” Great Britain won the first race on Sunday and finished third in the regatta, followed by the US, France and China.

Australia lead the overall series with 93 points, two ahead of Japan. Britain are third with 79, followed by the US on 68, France 61 and China 60.

The next regatta is in New York on June 21-22, followed by stops in Cowes, England, and Marseille, France.

The three-day Marseille regatta will conclude with a $1 million winner-take-all match race between the top two teams for the season championship.

Associated Press