New Zealand driver Peter Burling has debriefed the team’s triumphant home victory in Christchurch, calling the day of chaotic racing ‘the absolute best in SailGP history’.
Burling reflected on the event, which included the unfortunate cancellation of racing on day one due to dolphin activity on the racecourse. Heading into day two, the Black Foils experienced issues with their equipment, with damage sustained to their foils from the mooring gear overnight.
“We had a disruptive build up but to pull it all together and come out with a win - we’re pretty stoked,” Burling said after racing.
The team’s event kicked off in perfect style, with the Kiwis netting a win in the first race of the day. They followed this with a 4th, but faced a battle to beat Canada in the third fleet race to make it into the three-boat showdown. Luckily, Spain lost their lead - dropping out of contention for the Final, but New Zealand still managed to pass Canada to pick up a 2nd place.
“We had a tight battle to get into the Final so to come out on the right side of it is something we’re just blown away by,” he said.
New Zealand’s ultimate victory followed a day of wild racing on Lyttelton Harbour, with a ‘three boat pile up’ in the starting box of the first fleet race and Australia sustaining extreme damage by hitting a race mark in the early stages of the same race.
Reflecting on Australia’s incident - which saw Slingsby elect to hit the mark instead of colliding with Canada - Burling said it was ‘a shame the Aussies were knocked out so early on’.
“It was a bit unfortunate that mark was there, but you’ve got to play to what the umpires say,” Burling said. “It’s definitely not my call.”
Finally, Burling thanked the support of home crowds, which amassed 22,000 people across the weekend.
“Christchurch has been such an amazing host, seeing all the fans come from all round New Zealand from all round the world down to this beautiful venue to cheer us on and for the conditions to deliver like that and to get that level of racing is unreal.”
Next up, the F50 fleet head to Bermuda for the 10th stop on Season 4’s 13-event calendar. The Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix will take place on May 4-5.
