Black Foils harness fond New York memories ahead of first SailGP event since March
by Ben Mackey, Black Foils Media 7 Jun 16:38 NZST
Peter Burling, co-CEO and driver of New Zealand SailGP Team, Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix - June 5, 2025 © Ricardo Pinto/SailGP
A rare three days of practice sailing have provided the ideal lead into the return of SailGP racing for the Black Foils after a longer than expected break between events.
This weekend's Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix will be the first event since March after the cancellation of the event originally scheduled to be held in Rio last month to allow for wing repairs and strengthening across the fleet after the collapse of Australia's wing during the last event in San Francisco.
The Black Foils won last season's New York event and enter the weekend fourth in the season long Rolex SailGP Championship just one point behind the Spanish team and with just five points separating the top five teams.
The wing repairs allowed for extra time on the water this week in New York and Black Foils Co-CEO and Driver Peter Burling said it was great to be back with the team.
"It's an awesome feeling to be here in New York. We've got some pretty fond memories of the city from last year putting together an awesome event. It's been important to get out on the water and get back into some rhythm together. It's such an iconic place to sail with the Statue of Liberty on one side, and the Manhattan skyline on the other. We are all really looking forward to the weekend."
Burling said the team aimed to make the most of the gap between events.
"We've really tried to be as productive as possible during the break and review our processes with a view to the rest of the season. As the results have shown, the fleet is getting more and more competitive and it's exciting to test ourselves again this weekend. It's an exciting time to be involved with SailGP on and off the water."
"New York is a challenging place to race. There's a lot of current, tide and potentially big waves to factor in. All of those factors make boat handling a challenge and you saw that in practice racing today."
Finally Burling wanted to extend his thanks to the team's supporters ahead of the event.
"New York is a place we've received great support in the past with fans and team sponsors traveling to the event along with the local supporters and this year is no different. Supporters make our sport and we are lucky to have a great group behind the Black Foils."
The Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix begins tomorrow Saturday 7 June 2025, with racing starting at 1-00pm local time (Sunday 5-00am in NZ). All the action will be live in New Zealand on ThreeNow.