SailGP Cadiz: New Zealand SailGP Team finish fourth, drop a spot on leaderboard

The New Zealand SailGP Team finished fourth at the event in Cadiz. Photo / Ricardo Pinto / SailGP

A costly error on the final leg of fleet racing has seen the New Zealand SailGP Team having to settle for fourth place in their return to the global foiling league in Cadiz.

Needing to finish the fifth of five fleet races ahead of the United States to beat them out for the last place in the event’s podium race, the Kiwis put themselves into a strong position to close that out. They got an advantageous position in rounding the final marker, forcing the USA to sail on their outside.

But whether it was a case of trying to prevent Jimmy Spithill from sharply turning inside them or otherwise, the Kiwi crew made the call to turn down toward the finishing line almost as soon as they had rounded the mark.

The turn put them directly into the path of Great Britain and they lost all momentum as they had to get out of the way. While there was probably room for Sir Ben Ainslie to dive behind the Kiwis rather than continue on a line in front of them, the Kiwis were left to rue the decision as it opened the door for the USA to cruise over the finish line ahead of them.

That saw the New Zealand team miss out on the podium race after doing well to put themselves in a position to be there.

The Kiwis, who missed the last event and a half due to an equipment malfunction, had gone into Monday morning’s racing sitting sixth on the event ladder, seven points behind third and nine points off the event leaders Australia.

They got off to a great start in light conditions in the penultimate race, edging their way into second place behind Denmark soon after rounding the first marker. That was where they stayed for the race, which was shortened from six legs to four due to the conditions.

With Denmark and Australia having confirmed their spots in the podium race, it essentially became a battle between the USA and New Zealand crews to secure that final spot.

For most of the race, it was advantage New Zealand as the Kiwis again started well to sail among the leading group. But the USA weren’t far behind and by the time it came to round the final marker, the two approached it at the same time from different sides of the course.

Both teams made errors by turning earlier than they probably should have in the moments that followed, which ended up more costly for the Kiwis.

In the podium race, the United States went on to overcome a poor start to beat Denmark and Australia by an impressive margin.

For the Kiwis, finishing in fourth for the event saw them fall from fifth to six on the ladder with 30 points, trailing Australia (43), Denmark (36), Spain (32), USA (32), and Great Britain (32) after five of 13 events.