It’s a notion Leo Takahashi has embraced in his first SailGP season with the Black Foils and one that is proving to sum up their season.
Takahashi stepped in as the flight controller for the New Zealand team after the departure of Andy Maloney,who joined league newcomers Brazil.
While Takahashi had previously sailed with the Japanese and American teams, and had experience on the controls, the Black Foils knew there would be an adjustment period as they got familiar working together as a group and brought Takahashi up to speed with their operation.
Now, halfway through the season and heading into this weekend’s event in Sassnitz, Germany, on the back of a regatta win and at the top of the leaderboard for the first time since January, the Black Foils are right where they want to be.
“There’s always a fair amount of armchair experts here and there, but it’s always just like any other sport,” Takahashi told the Herald.
The Black Foils won the most recent SailGP event in Portsmouth last month. Photo / SailGP
“I’ve watched a lot of sports and seen my fair share, so I just assume it’s the same throughout. I think it’s all about team support and the friends and family that are close to me.
“I guess it’s always going to be there. But it’s big shoes to fill and when the team put in the effort and I put the hard work in, it’s always going to pay off in a certain way. It’s just been really cool to see all that hard work come together, and now we’re kind of building a good bit of momentum.”
While the Black Foils struggled for results after winning the season opener in Dubai in November, with a fourth-place finish in Auckland, followed by an eighth in Sydney, which equalled their worst-ever finish.
However, now seven events in, it seems their struggles might have been overblown. With four top-two finishes from seven events, including in the last two, the New Zealanders again look to be the team to beat as the league heads into the business end of the campaign.
The Black Foils go into this weekend's SailGP event in Germany at the top of the leaderboard. Photo / SailGP
“It feels like a good sigh of relief. You know, we were battling for it for a while, then we had a few tech issues ... it feels like a bit of pressure off now.
“We can all just kind of relax and go for it for the rest of the season, and now the events come quick so momentum is going to be pretty important coming into these European events.”
This weekend’s event in Sassnitz sees the league make its way to Germany for the first time, presenting the challenge of an unfamiliar racecourse as the teams take to the Baltic Sea.
“There’s some pretty positive feedback on the conditions, and they say the old Sassnitz Strand comes alive in the summer, so there should be a lot of spectators and the atmosphere should be good,” he said.
“If we get a nice weather pattern, the wind should be perfect as well, so it’ll be exciting for Germany and SailGP.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
