The New Zealand SailGP Team has won two events to sit second on the leaderboard after seven stops on the circuit. Photo: Jon Buckle/SailGP
The New Zealand SailGP Team has won two events to sit second on the leaderboard after seven stops on the circuit. Photo: Jon Buckle/SailGP
When the New Zealand SailGP team returns to the water in Singapore this weekend, their key focus will be trying to consolidate their position.
This weekend’s regatta signals the beginning of the business end of the season, the three events in as many months ahead – with stops in Singapore,Sydney in February and Christchurch in March - before the grand final in San Francisco in May.
After struggling to find their feet in their circuit debut last year, the Kiwis have flown in their sophomore campaign. No team has won more fleet races than the New Zealanders (11), while they have claimed two event wins and sit second on the leaderboard.
With the top three teams at the end of the circuit going into the $1m one-race shootout in San Francisco, the Kiwis have things right where they want them.
“These next four events are hugely important for us,” strategist Liv Mackay said. “We really want to be able to perform in Christchurch. As a team we’re all massively excited for that, so it’s going to be an intense event. We’re putting in a lot of work right now to set ourselves up to perform there and if we’re able to perform in Singapore and Sydney that will only help. Most importantly we want to win the season so that’s what we’re aiming for right now.”
While more time sailing the F50 catamarans has certainly helped the New Zealand crew find their way on the water, the league’s decision to raise the number of crew onboard from five to six (three to four in light winds) to account for the strategist role has also proved to be beneficial.
For most teams, the strategist position is filled by one of the team’s female athletes and plays a vital part in how the race goes for their team as they relay information about the course to the driver. They also double as a grinder in the four-person light wind configurations.
Liv Mackay of the New Zealand SailGP Team in action on the grinding handles during a practice session. Photo: Bob Martin/SailGP
Every team will take a different approach to how their strategist is best utilised, but Mackay – one of three strategists used by the team alongside Jo Aleh and Erica Dawson - believed what the Kiwis had unlocked in the position so far was paying dividends.
“For us that’s something we’re constantly evolving, but the strategist role is definitely playing more into that which is really exciting,” Mackay says.
“(Our results are) definitely not directly related to that. We’ve all done a lot of hard work over the buildup to these good results, but I’d like to think that Jo, Erica and I have been putting in a lot of effort, and the team has by far been the most open to developing that role. We’re starting to see that shift into a bigger role played on board.”
For the Kiwis, the strategist works closely with forward-facing grinder Josh Junior to feed information to Peter Burling so he can make informed decisions behind the wheel. The strategist role focuses on opposition boat relatives, pressure downwind and various points in the starting box.
With tricky conditions forecast for the return to racing on Saturday night (NZ time), Mackay said it was probably a good thing she had been working hard on grinding lately because it was likely she would be on the handles with light winds on the horizon. Add in the humidity, and the sailors could be in for a challenging weekend.
“The heat is a challenging factor. It’s really quite humid here and light winds. The team’s addressed that before coming here and we have a lot of strategies around eliminating that or trying to make it better. We’ve done everything we can, so hopefully the weekend turns on some wind.”
