In the confines of the SailGP racecourse, the Black Foils have struggled in 2025.
After winning in Dubai in late 2024 to kick their season five campaign off, the New Zealand SailGP team have been absent from the podium in both regattas in 2025 – Auckland in January and Sydney in February. Their eighth-placed finish in the latter equalled their worst-ever finish.
With Leo Takahashi joining the team as flight controller this season following Andy Maloney’s departure to the Brazilian team, the Black Foils expected it would take a bit of time to get to their best.
By all accounts, Takahashi’s integration into the team has been a comfortable one, with the 26-year-old diving into his work, getting up to speed and slotting in nicely.
However, the results to reflect that have been hard to come by – in part due to niggling equipment issues but, as Takahashi admits, some poor sailing too.
“We all know how well we can sail. Saturday [in Sydney] was, I wouldn’t say an anomaly, but it was a bad day; a bad day in sport for us,” he told the Herald.
“There was no real chat there, I think we just wanted to get back to the level we want to sail at, and we did on Sunday. So there were positives in that, then just getting into the nitty gritty stuff on Saturday and trying to find the little tweaks we could make.”
It was a tale of two days in Sydney, with a combination of mistakes and on-board issues seeing the Black Foils all but out of contention for the podium race. On Sunday, they came back to finish second, first and fifth in the three fleet races before the event final.
It showed just what they’re capable of when they have everything working, and Takahashi was hopeful that was a sign of things to come when they get back on the water in Los Angeles this weekend.
“It’s always frustrating when it’s out of your control, but there are some things we could control and I think we made the most of what we could, which is a good thing as a team,” Takahashi said.
“It’s always these things that are going to set you up to be better for the rest of the season. As a group, we’re handling these things well. The results don’t speak for themselves but in the background, it’s a good stepping stone for the future.”
With the Black Foils heading into the LA event fourth on the leaderboard – tied with third-placed Spain on 20 points – Takahashi stressed the importance of the team sailing at the potential in an expanded 12-team fleet.
He said, that for the Black Foils, a good event in LA would end in a return to the podium.
“Pete [Burling, driver] and Liv [Mackay, strategist] and the guys in the booth are doing a really good job of weighing up all the factors, but when you’re in the pack, you’re really determined by other boats,” he said.
“It’s why sailing as a sport is so hard. There are so many variables; the wind, the waves, the boat itself – the F50 – is probably the most challenging boat in the world, then you’ve got 11 other teams who are at exactly the same level as you and you have to be fighting them to get pole position. That’s why the start is so important, but when you’re in the pack there are some opportunities to come through the fleet; sometimes you get it wrong and sometimes you get it right.
“It’s just instantaneous decisions that set you up for the next decision – it’s just a fascinating sport in that sense.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.