Peter Burling’s New Zealand has delighted home fans by claiming the ultimate win in Christchurch and seizing the season lead from Australia in the process.
The Kiwis trounced France and Canada in dramatic style on Lyttelton Harbour, securing a picture-perfect start and executing a flawless race to take the win on home waters.
Despite efforts by Quentin Delapierre’s France to pass the Black Foils by splitting at Gate 4, the Kiwis proved uncatchable and crossed the finish line to seize their 4th event win of the season.
The results mean the Kiwis take the top spot on the season leaderboard, pushing Tom Slingsby’s Australia into second. The Aussies were force to retire from racing after sustaining significant damage in the first fleet race by colliding with a race mark.
“It doesn’t get better than that,” said New Zealand wing trimmer Blair Tuke, adding he was ‘absolutely pumped’ to secure the win at home.
The win came after New Zealand was forced to fight the Canadians tooth and nail in the latter stages of the third fleet race to make the Final. Diego Botin’s Spain initially looked certain to make the three-boat showdown, but a crucial error handed the place to Canada instead.
“We got into a tough spot in that last fleet race to make the Final and we kept it together and executed a good start, and then a clean race from there,” Tuke said.
New Zealand’s euphoric win followed a chaotic day of incident-filled racing in Christchurch and the cancelation of racing on day one due to dolphins on the racecourse.
Reflecting on the weekend, Tuke added: “After yesterday’s disappointment for everyone we’re so stoked to put on a good show for everyone today. We said we hoped we would do it and we’ve done it.”
The refreshed season standings see New Zealand take the lead with 68 points, while Australia slips into second ahead with 59. Spain meanwhile moves up into third place with 55 points.
