The SailGP championship continues to elude the Black Foils.
For the third time in as many seasons, the New Zealand crew have fallen just shy of glory in the multimillion-dollar three-boat shootout, finishing third in season five. Great Britain took the title, ahead of Australia in second.
Whilethey were the top three teams for most of the campaign, this was the first time the Black Foils, Great Britain and Australia were all in a three-boat shootout together this season.
Whether it was a case of not wanting to push things and just get their boats into the grand final shootout or just struggling in the conditions, none of the three teams in the main event had posted great performances for much of the weekend.
There were, however, better conditions for foiling on the final day of the season, and that made for some interesting races; none more so than the grand final, as all three teams held the lead during the contest.
It was the decision to split the course around the third gate that proved to be the defining moment for the British. At the time, they trailed the Black Foils and Australia, but not long after rounding the mark, the British – who topped the season points table - found the breeze and rode it to the lead.
From there, it was a matter of not making a mistake, and Dylan Fletcher – driving in his first season since SailGP’s debut in 2019 – steered them to victory. It continued a longstanding rivalry between he and Black Foils duo Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. Fletcher, along with Stuart Bithell, edged the Kiwis out for gold in the 49er at the Tokyo Olympics, before the Kiwis beat Fletcher in last year’s America’s Cup match.
For the Black Foils, it was another strong season as they continued to be among the gold standard teams in the global foiling league, but it ended with a familiar disappointment.
It brought an end to a strange week for the Kiwi team, which was full of tests before the grand final even started.
First, the league brought the new 27.5m wingsail online for the final event of the season. That saw the fleet get a couple of extra practice days; Burling injuring his right index finger when assessing an issue with one of the foils on the first of those days.
Peter Burling injured his finger during practice ahead of the SailGP regatta in Abu Dhabi. Photo / SailGP
That left the 34-year-old in doubt for the weekend, but he resumed his place at the wheel after missing just one of three practice sessions.
They then had damage to their port rudder late in the first day of racing proper, which required overnight repairs, after the Swiss ran into the back of them during the starting sequence for the fourth fleet race.
Denmark took home the Abu Dhabi regatta title as the top team after the six fleet races, finishing in the top three of all but one of the 12-team contests through the weekend. It was the team’s first regatta win in their four seasons of SailGP, with the team joining in season two alongside the Black Foils.
