Preparations are well underway for this weekend’s first ever ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Christchurch.
The Tech Base has been built and the F50s are being assembled ahead of two days of fast and furious racing on March 18 & 19.
The hydrofoiling F50 fleet will hit the water for the first time to begin practice racing on Friday, before racing gets underway at 15:00 - 16:30 NZDT on Saturday and Sunday.
Teams will compete in a six fleet race format before the all-important three-boat, winner-takes-all Final.
Two-time defending champion Australia sits comfortably in front at the top of the Championship leaderboard, with a 12-point lead, while home favorites New Zealand are in second.
However, the Kiwis are just one-point ahead of Quentin Delapierre’s France in third and three points ahead of Ben Ainslie’s Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team in fourth, piling pressure on the home team to perform when racing gets underway.
