SAN DIEGO (AP) — Australian skippers Tom Slingsby and Nathan Outteridge are good mates off the water.

In the fledging SailGP global league, there's a nice little rivalry developing between them.

Slingsby's Team Australia has beaten Outteridge's Team Japan in the match race finals of the first two regattas in the series, which visits New York on Friday and Saturday.

Both skippers expect the other four teams to start closing the gap, perhaps as soon as this weekend, aboard high-performance foiling 50-foot catamarans. It wouldn't be surprising if Australia and Japan meet again in the match race final, considering that their skippers are among the world's most accomplished and competitive sailors.

The evening racing is on the Hudson River, just off Battery Park. The U.S. catamaran has graphics of the Statue of Liberty on its wingsail and hulls.