SailGP: Peter Burling unpicks the Kiwis home performance
by SailGP Media 22 Jan 08:53 AEDT
The BlackFoils racing on the Waitemata - ITM New Zealand SailGP - January 19,2025uary © Ricardo Pinto/Rolex/SailGP
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.
The Kiwis picked up uncharacteristically inconsistent fleet racing 4-8-6-1-4-6-2 results, which meant the team failed to qualify for the three-boat, winner-takes-all Final.
Burling described the second day of racing as 'frustrating' and revealed the team was plagued with tech issues, from a wing sensor issue, which mean their training window 'was cut in half', to another wing fault before the first start. "It meant we couldn't really move the wing like normal - so there were some really weird gremlins in the boat."
Despite this, Burling said he was proud of how the team 'continued to fight through the races and out our best foot forward'. "We managed to keep in the game and put together a good last race," he said. "We gave ourselves a shot, but it wasn't quite good enough."
Instead, it was Tom Slingsby's Australia, New Zealand's long-term rivals, which dominated fleet races and trounced Emirates GBR and Spain in the Final to take the event title.
Burling admitted the team had raced well all weekend. "They were obviously getting off the start well and making some pretty clean races from there," he said.
It comes after the Kiwis lost long-term flight controller Andy Maloney to Mubadala Brazil in the off-season transfer window, with Leo Takahashi filling his spot on the New Zealand F50. While Burling complimented the 'amount [Takahashi's] improving', he said the team is 'under no illusions that we're on a learning curve at the moment'.
"There's a lot of little things going on in these boats in every scenario and really getting that muscle memory of knowing what that other person is going to do."
Despite the 'frustrating' weekend, Burling set his sights set on reaping revenge at the third event of the 2025 Season next month. "We're looking forward to knocking the Australians off their home turf in Sydney," he said.