Blair Tuke says it's been a "challenging" season for the NZ SailGP team. Photo / Getty
Blair Tuke says it's been a "challenging" season for the NZ SailGP team. Photo / Getty
Uncertainty over the quarantine situation and available spots in managed isolation is causing concern for the Kiwi Sail GP team which has just arrived in St Tropez for the French leg of the World Series this weekend.
It will be the second regatta in a row where New Zealand isat full strength following the Danish round in Aarhus last month, where they finished fifth. The Kiwis, led by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, are fifth overall with three rounds remaining in the season following the cancellation of January's planned Christchurch event.
After next month's Spanish event in Cadiz, the New Zealanders have MIQ spots booked for mid-October — but it's what happens next that is causing discomfort among team members.
The seventh round of Sail GP takes place in Sydney on the 17th and 18th of December and unless there is a dramatic change in the Covid-19 situation and rules on both sides of the Tasman, Tuke and Co face the prospect of having to quarantine in Australia as well as the mandatory two weeks in New Zealand upon their return.
Tuke, who has already spent two weeks in MIQ this year before the Olympics, admits the situation is unsettling.
"As a team, we have been looking at that pretty closely," Tuke said. "Obviously, the state of our team and mental state of our team is a key one. Having people at home for Christmas and with their loved ones is important.
"It's been a long time on the road for many of the sailors and the support team in the New Zealand SailGP team, so we just have to wait and see how it develops over the next month or so. But if it stays as it is at the moment, we're staring down the barrel at a lot of time in a hotel room, so we'll just have to wait and see but definitely, we are thinking about the team closely on that one."
The Kiwis aren't considering skipping the Sydney leg of the series just yet, Tuke said.
"Not at this stage, we are still fully set on trying to make that final race and giving ourselves the possibility of holding that trophy up, so we just have to see what sort of options we have.
The New Zealand SailGP team in action. Photo / Photosport
"It's pretty strange how there are going to be people flying down from Europe and be home for Christmas, but we won't be able to. It's a difficult one but professional athletes racing in competitions around the world in this pandemic... it's challenging."
The Kiwis are tied fifth with Spain on 23 points — well off series leaders Australia (32), with Great Britain second on 30 points, followed by Japan (27) and the USA (26).
"The races are super tight and the difference between first and last is nothing at all. You have to string together at least three or four good ones out of the five races before the final race to get a shot at the win," Tuke said.
"That's the goal for us going forward — just to make that final race and make the top three and see where we go from there.
"We've been close a couple of times and as we get to the business end of the season now, we've got to start making those count."
The New Zealand team will only get one practice session on the water onboard Amukura on Friday before racing starts due to the logistics of transporting the F50 boats from Denmark to the south of France.
