SailGP: Black Foils confirmed to miss Bermuda, New York events; eye return in Halifax in June

Any slight flicker of hope that the Black Foils could still compete for a spot in the SailGP grand final this season is getting smaller by the week.

The New Zealand team have confirmed they will miss at least another two events while they wait for the league to rebuild their boat, which was wrecked in a crash with France in Auckland in February.

With her usual crew off the water in Bermuda, Black Foils strategist Liv Mackay will again step in for the French team. The Kiwi was loaned to the French team in place of regular strategist Manon Audinet in Brazil last month, as Audinet continued to recover from injuries sustained in the Auckland crash.

“We fully supported Liv taking up the opportunity to race with France,” Black Foils co-chief executive and wing trimmer Blair Tuke said.

“It’s a positive chance for her to return to racing and to continue to get valuable time on the water while also supporting their team while Manon continues her recovery.

“We are actively working as a sailing team to take steps forward while we are off the water and that has been different for each member of the group. The fact that Liv can continue to get that exposure to SailGP racing is fantastic for her and the team.”

Missing next week’s regatta in Bermuda and the New York stop at the end of the month, the Black Foils will have failed to complete six of the season’s 13 events.

“We would like to be back racing as soon as possible but also understand there is an existing boat building programme and logistics timeline the league needs to work with,” co-chief executive and driver Peter Burling said.

“Based on where things are currently at, we are hopeful we can make that happen for Halifax [Canada in late June].

“Huge strides have been made by the league in building resilience in the fleet with SailGP Technologies and we know they are working hard on getting us back out there. It’s been great having a member of our shore crew also working alongside the team in Southampton on the return.”

It’s a strange position to be in for the New Zealand crew, who have historically been among the cleanest teams on the water.

In the 2024 season, they were one of only two teams not to have points deducted from their season total for penalties, while they were one of six teams to keep all their points in 2025.

When the team do finally get back on the water, they will be a long way outside the top three on the season leaderboard.

Having only completed two fleet races so far this season, the Black Foils have just two season points - perhaps benefiting from a smaller points pool when the fleet was split in half for day two in Auckland, which allowed them to finish the event in a points-scoring position.

Australia currently lead the campaign with 35 points, ahead of Great Britain on 29 and the USA on 27. The Kiwi crew will be hopeful that points are distributed across the fleet over the next event and not just dominated by the current leaders if they’re to have a chance of playing catch-up. As it stands, six teams have 20 or more points.

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