United States driver Taylor Canfield has said the home team had an ‘incredibly difficult’ first day of racing in New York due to ‘transitional, shifty, up and down’ conditions.
Light and shifty winds, combined with a strong current, played havoc with the ten international teams, challenging crews to nail the race starts and get in front of the fleet to minimize maneuvers and sail shorter distances.
Phil Robertson’s Canada ended the day at the top of the leaderboard - while Emirates GBR and Switzerland claimed the race wins - but it was a tricky day for Canfield’s American squad.
The team finished dead last in both fleet races (the third was abandoned due to light winds), and has now had five consecutive 10th place finishes across the last five fleet races spanning New York and Bermuda.
“It’s not what we were expecting when we showed up this morning,” Canfield admitted, adding that the team had ‘moments of brilliance’ during the opening day but still has ‘a lot of work to do’.
“We need to continue to work on that process and can sail this boat around the course really well.”
He added that sailing at a home event got the team ‘pumped up’. “We are grateful for everyone that came out and everyone trusting our process - I promise we’re going to work hard to put on a better show for the home fans.”
The Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix resumes on June 23, with racing from 1pm ET.
