Smooth sailing for Kiwi team
New Zealand’s Black Foils will race for the multi-million dollar prize in the Sail GP Season 4 final in San Francisco.
The Kiwis are the first team to qualify for the US$2 million (NZ$3.2m) Season 4 final thanks to their victory in the three boat decider in New York yesterday.
New York was the Black Foils’ fifth final victory of the season, beating home Canada and Great Britain.
Now riding a wave of momentum, Black Foils driver Peter Burling said his team will look to carry that into the final.
“We're not just going to the final to be there, we want to go there to win it.”
Burling, who was proud of his team’s effort in New York in tricky conditions, said their focus was already shifting to the Season 4 final despite one more round of fleet races in San Francisco to navigate first.
“We know that the last race is the only one that really matters now,” Burling said.
Australia, who have won all three season finals in the short history of Sail GP, are lurking in second on the overall standings but the race for the second and third spots will be a tight battle through the fleet races with the United States, Germany and Switzerland the only teams right out of contention.
A solid weekend in the Big Apple, with a fifth and a third on day one followed by a second on day two, was good enough to put New Zealand in the three race final.
“We got off the line well three times, and then it was just sailing clean races. But it was definitely super hard on control, with all the ferry waves and the turbulence from the current and the water, so I’m really proud of the team,” Burling said.