Ainslie leads Spithill, Burling in SailGP Dubai regatta

By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer

Britain’s Sir Ben Ainslie mastered the light conditions to win two of the three fleet races in the inaugural Dubai Sail Grand Prix and take a commanding five-point lead over rival skippers Jimmy Spithill of the United States and Peter Burling of New Zealand. It was a rough day for season points leader Tom Slingsby of Australia, who was eighth in the nine-boat fleet in tech tycoon Larry Ellison’s global league. Ainslie finished sixth in the first race before winning the next two aboard his 50-foot foiling catamaran to put his British crew in great position to reach Sunday’s podium race, which will follow the final two fleet races.