Black Foils start new SailGP season on top

By Christopher Reive

The Black Foils have set the benchmark for the new SailGP season.

The New Zealand crew have successfully defended their Dubai event title, taking out the opening regatta of the season to begin the campaign at the top of the leaderboard.

It was a fitting end to a weekend of consistent performances for the team, who went into the three-boat final against Great Britain and the United States as the top seed with podium finishes in three of the five qualifying fleet races.

“That was epic. What a way to start the season,” Black Foils wing trimmer Blair Tuke said.

“A new group, the boat just made it together in time and what an awesome, focused effort from the team, we’re super stoked.”

It didn’t all go the Black Foils’ way in the three-team shootout. They got the best start of the three boats and led the way to the second gate, but were overtaken by both Great Britain and the US soon after rounding the mark.

The Black Foils then split away from the other two boats at the next gate, rounding it with pace and sailing into wide open space on the course.

While they trailed Great Britain around the following gate, the Black Foils were the first of the three teams to get up and foiling again after the mark rounding, building a lead of about 100m with two legs to race.

From there, they closed out the win, again showing their credentials as arguably the league’s top light-air team.

On the whole, it was a more consistent day of racing for the fleet as the breeze appeared to have filled in a little more from the opening day of the regatta.

The teams sailed in their five-person configuration after having to drop down to a four-person crew for the later races on day one, and the Black Foils made their mark early in the day with their first race win of the season.

Spain led that race for the majority, but the Kiwis started well and were hot on the heels of the season four champions, ultimately pouncing when the Spanish came off their foils and lost speed in the sprint to the finish line.

That race wrapped up the Black Foils’ spot in the final – after finishing second, third and fifth in day one’s action – so their seventh-placed finish in the fifth and final fleet race didn’t hurt their finals hopes.

It was the perfect way for the team to kick off the new season, and they will now head to the event in Auckland on January 18-19 looking to back that up with another win on home waters.

The Auckland event will be the first time the full 12-boat fleet will be in action, with France sitting out of the season opener in Dubai.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission