Team NZ came third after dominating most of the Sail GP season. Photo: Bob Martin for SailGP
Spain has claimed Sail GP's Season 4 after a sensational performance in the grand final in San Francisco, with Australia finishing second and Team New Zealand third.
Having been the most dominant team across the season, Peter Burling's Black Foils already clinched their place in today's three-boat finale in the penultimate round.
The podium race from each leg of Sail GP was replaced this round with the Grand Final race, with the top three nations on the season leaderboard contesting the last race, rather than the top three of the event.
New Zealand won five of the previous 12 regattas in Season 4 of tech billionaire Larry Ellison's global league and were determined to take it to the three-time defending Sail GP champion Australian crew, steered by Tom Slingsby.
But in a season where everything came down to a one-off race it was the Spanish, led by driver Diego Botin, who got the jump across the starting line.
Spain just scrapped into the remaining spot in the shootout race but dominated the conclusion of Sail GP's Season 4, never relinquishing their lead across the six leg race.
With $3.2 million on the line, there was a big pay-day to chase, but the New Zealanders will pocket $570,000 for finishing at the top of the season leaderboard.