SailGP: Blackfoils lap half fleet in day beset with rains squalls and strong current
by Ben Mackey, BlackFoils 7 Jun 21:11 PDT
Day 1 of the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix © Ricardo Pinto/SailGP
A victory in the final fleet race of the day boosted the Black Foils into fourth after three races on the opening day of the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix.
The race win highlighted a challenging day on the Hudson River featuring light wind and heavy rain with results of second place in the opening race of the day and 11th in the second.
Just one point separates second and fourth on the table heading into Sunday’s racing with Spain leading the way five points ahead with two scheduled fleet races remaining tomorrow.
The conditions saw the teams contest the first race of the day with just three athletes on board before going to four in the next two.
Black Foils Co-CEO and Driver Peter Burling said minimising errors was vital in today’s conditions.
“It was about getting off the startline and trying to not make too many mistakes around the course. We felt like we did a really good job of that in the first and third races while we made a mistake at the start of the second and didn’t take our opportunities. Definitely a lot to look back on. We’d obviously like to be a few points higher on the leaderboard but we are excited for tomorrow.”
Today’s action was the first SailGP racing since March and Burling said it was great to be back in race mode.
“It’s great to be back competing with the other teams and have 12 boats on the startline. It feels like a long time since San Francisco so it was great to have today under our belts and take some momentum into tomorrow and the rest of the season.”
In the overall fleet, Liv Mackay was selected as strategist of the day, and Leonard Takahashi as Flight controller of the day.
The Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix continues tomorrow Sunday 8 June 2025, with racing starting at 3-30pm local time (Monday 7-30am in NZ).