SailGP Saint-Tropez: Black Foils surge into contention on erratic day in France

On a day of erratic results in SailGP’s return to France, the Black Foils harnessed the chaos.

The New Zealand crew finished the day second on the leaderboard after four fleet races, doing well to navigate the tricky, patchy conditions to have a solid day of results.

The Black Foils finished fifth, first, third and fifth in the day’s contests, though they might feel as though they left a few points out on the water.

In the first race of the day, the Black Foils got caught out at the final turn as Spain and Denmark got a nice puff toward the mark. That put those two teams into a battle for position with the Kiwis, who were racing in third place but got forced wide and lost two places at the death.

It was a moment they learnt from, pulling off a similar move to beat Canada in the second race of the day.

“I think we took note of it and hopefully learned from that. Thankfully, it came to our advantage that time,” Black Foils strategist Liv Mackay said.

Great Britain ended the day at the top of the event leaderboard with 31 points, with the Kiwis one point behind. Spain were the next-best team, a further five points back.

With the F50 foiling catamarans set up with their high-speed appendages and 18m wingsail, it was a day where the strong winds meant high speeds but the teams having to work hard to keep the boats foiling.

That proved to be the case, with a different winner in every race and some widespread results.

“I think you definitely learnt a bit as it went on, but the range was huge on the shifts and just how they’re filling in over the racecourse,” Black Foils driver Peter Burling said.

“It was definitely super tricky, and you just had to make the most of whatever came to you. For us, it was just about trying to make sure you kept as many boats behind us as you could and kept it clean.”

Importantly for the Black Foils, they got off the starting line well in all but the last race.

Running the same tactic of winding up from deep in the starting box and threading through the fleet to hit the starting line at pace, they were challenging for the lead early in the first two races.

They looked set to do so again in the third but were forced wide at the first mark by the Spanish team and settled mid-fleet.

They did well throughout the day to find passing lanes and raced aggressively to try to make up positions, which could prove decisive in the hunt for a place in the three-boat event final.

The final race of the day was one of the most bizarre of the season so far, with several teams going wide and getting in close quarters with each other and the Australians going over the line early.

It was a strange day for the usually clinical Flying Roos. While they claimed a race win, they also had two 10th-placed finishes.

Meanwhile, it was a milestone day for Kiwis Brad Farrand and Alex Sinclair, with their Italian team claiming their maiden SailGP race win when they were first over the line in the day’s third contest.

The teams will race three more fleet races when sailing resumes at 11.30pm Saturday (NZ time), before the event final.

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