Please select your home edition
Edition
Rooster SB1 Inshore Range

SailGP: Black Foils excited ahead of Sunday's Grand Final

by Jodie Bakewell-White 14 Jul 2024 13:02 PDT
NZ SailGP Team - the Black Foils - Race Day 1 - SailGP Season 4 Grand Final in San Francisco, USA. July 13, 2024 © Jed Jacobsohn/SailGP

The Black Foils kept out of trouble on a gusty day one of SailGP on San Francisco Bay where tomorrow they’re set to race the hotly anticipated Season 4 Grand Final.

All ten F50s took to the Bay in strong wind conditions today, powered by 18-metre wings and high speed foils, for three fleet races in front of a crowd of more than 3000 watching from the purpose-built Race Stadium at Marina Green.

The kiwis came away with a trio of 4th places and driver Peter Burling says the team are feeling “really excited.”

“It was an awesome first day here in San Francisco, right at the upper end of the wind limit and it looks exactly the same tomorrow so I assume we will be back on the same configuration.

“It was a bit of an up and down day for us. We didn't get off the line that well in the first race and had a good comeback to get to fourth. Then it felt like the next two races we were right at the front and then dropped back to fourth.”

“A few more mistakes than we would normally make, but we’re really pleased with how we pushed the boat around the race track. We found the edge at times, and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”

Tactician Josh Junior, who plays a key role in the Black Foils coaching booth alongside Ray Davies, described the day, “It was pretty exciting on day one of racing here in San Fran. It was really dynamic, shifty and gusty with quite a bit of wind.”

“We’re on the little wings, and the fast foils so the boats are super dynamic out there… with all the puffs it's really hard to sail these boats well. We saw across the whole fleet teams making mistakes and doing some things well – we made a couple and we did some things really, really well,” he added.

France were the standout team on day one signalling their intent to claim a spot in the Grand Final, after going 1-3-3 on the water today. New Zealand’s closest rivals Australia had mixed results with a win in race 2, but a 5th and an 8th in the other two races. After today they’re behind New Zealand in the pointscore for this event which reads France, Great Britain, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia.

Tomorrow’s schedule has two more fleet races for all ten teams after which it will be determined who earns a spot in the Grand Final, alongside New Zealand.

Only the three highest ranked teams in the season leaderboard will progress to the winner-takes-all Grand Final where they will go head-to-head to be crowned the SailGP champion.

The most exciting racing on water returns for Championship Sunday and the conclusion of SailGP Season 4 with race start set for 2:30pm Sunday local time (9:30am Monday NZT).

Fans in New Zealand can watch live on ThreeNow from 09:30am Monday or catch delayed coverage on Three from 4:30pm on Monday - or see the Youtube coverage .

Related Articles

SailGP: Kiwis bounce back on Day 2
The BlackFoils had a much stronger performance on the Final day of KPMG Australia SailGP Despite finishing 8th on the overall standings in the Sydney regatta, the New Zealand team are in third equal place on the Season points table - level with Spain - both are on 20pts. Posted on 9 Feb
SailGP: Burling unpicks the Kiwi performance
Peter Burling has unpicked the team's mixed racing performance at home in Auckland New Zealand driver Peter Burling has unpicked the team's mixed racing performance at home in Auckland, which saw the team finish 4th in front of home crowds. Posted on 21 Jan
SailGP: Kiwis 'gutted' by Finals loss
'We really wanted to come away positive here, it definitely hurts' - Peter Burling New Zealand's Black Foils, the Season 4 champions finished third in the 2024 SailGP Grand Final on Sunday, in San Francisco. Instead it was Spain, the third and final qualifer, who took their first SailGP title. Posted on 15 Jul 2024
SailGP: City by the Bay just over a week away
The most important race of Sail Grand Prix Season 4 is little more than a week away The most important race of Sail Grand Prix Season 4 is little more than a week away and the Black Foils are coming in hot off the back of their win in New York City. Posted on 4 Jul 2024
SailGP: Black Foils win in New York
The Black Foils have taken the big prize in the Big Apple with a win at Mubadala Sail Grand Prix The Black Foils have taken the big prize in the Big Apple with a win at Mubadala Sail Grand Prix New York to claim their 5th event victory of Season 4. Posted on 23 Jun 2024
SailGP: Black Foils survive a demanding Day 1
The Blacks Foils came through a demanding opening day at Mubadala SailGP New York to be third on the The Blacks Foils came through a demanding opening day at Mubadala SailGP New York to be third on the leaderboard after two fleet races on the Hudson River today in front of a sell-out crowd on Governors Island. Posted on 23 Jun 2024
Black Foils head for New York this weekend
The Black Foils go up against their SailGP rivals again this coming weekend on New York harbour The Black Foils go up against their SailGP rivals again this coming weekend on New York harbour in front of a stacked race stadium on Governors Island and the iconic big apple backdrop for the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix | New York, 22-23 Jun EDT Posted on 16 Jun 2024
Black Foils extend their SailGP Season 4 lead
Despite finishing 5th at the Rockwool Canada Sail Grand Prix The Black Foils extended their overall lead in Season 4 despite finishing 5th at the Rockwool Canada Sail Grand Prix after what was a hectic final day of racing in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Posted on 3 Jun 2024
SailGP: Kiwis have a target on their backs
Rival Aussie driver Tom Slingsby conceded New Zealand were “the top team at the moment” New Zealand enters the weekend top of the overall standings, ten points ahead of Australia. Speaking at this morning's pre-event press conference, rival Aussie driver Tom Slingsby conceded New Zealand were “the top team at the moment”. Posted on 1 Jun 2024
SailGP: Kiwis push back at Media Conference
Burling disagrees that the Kiwis were gifted the season lead by an Australian snafu in Christchurch New Zealand driver Peter Burling has disagreed that the Kiwis were gifted the season lead by Australia's Christchurch penalty, arguing ‘we have earned our right to be here'. Posted on 4 May 2024
Selden 2020 - FOOTERPalm Beach Motor YachtsMySail 2025