SailGP Abu Dhabi results: NZ SailGP Team make decent start to new event in tricky conditions

Liv Mackay doubled as a strategist and grinder for the New Zealand SailGP Team on the opening day in Abu Dhabi in the light wind configuration. Photo / Ricardo Pinto, SailGP

In SailGP, with unreliable wind comes erratic results.

The league’s first event in Abu Dhabi got off to a staggering start on Sunday morning, with only a light breeze first forcing a delay to the racing getting underway, then making life very difficult for the 10-strong fleet.

Ending 2023 with an event win in Dubai, the New Zealand SailGP Team were looking to continue pushing for the title of the competition’s benchmark and made a decent start to the event despite the conditions to sit second on the leaderboard after the opening day’s racing.

With the lack of wind, the crews were sailing in the appropriate configuration – with just four sailors onboard and using the big 29m wing sail – and on a day where the start was going to be crucial given the lack of wind, the Kiwis got off to a flying start.

Travelling through the middle of the fleet, the Kiwis weren’t necessarily in the ideal position, but they timed their run perfectly to jump out ahead of the pack and hold their position despite the best efforts of Australia around the opening gate.

Spending most of the race sailing in H1 mode – with one of the hulls in the water – it became a matter of not making mistakes for the New Zealand boat.

They avoided trouble and claimed the opening race win of the event ahead of Australia and Canada.

It was a completely different story in race two.

The Kiwis made a terrible start, getting across the starting line at the back of the 10-team fleet. Surprisingly, they were joined at the back of the pack by Australia.

With no wind to help the cause, progressing through the fleet was a near impossible task and instead, the Kiwis were simply battling with the Australians for the majority of the race to salvage an extra point.

They weren’t able to get ahead of Tom Slingsby and his crew, and finished the race last. Funnily enough, the race was won by Spain, who finished last in race one.

They learned their lessons from race two and produced another perfect start to make a line to the first gate on the optimal angle. They were only the second team to round it, however, as Spain shot down the inside of the course and got in range of the mark just in time to secure the right of way ahead of the Kiwis.

With sailing in clear air so vital on the day, Spain got the jump on the Kiwis down the second leg, then forced them into an extra manoeuvre on the penultimate leg. That saw the Kiwis unable to position themselves to challenge for the top spot but finished the final race of the day in second.

The fleet with compete in two more fleet races late on Sunday night, before the top three teams contest the podium race on Monday morning.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.