Entering the weekend top of the leaderboard, New Zealand driver Peter Burling made one thing clear – the Black Foils didn’t make it there by chance.
When challenged on whether the team was “gifted” its nine-point lead by Australia’s hefty Christchurch penalty, Burling said: “We have earned our right to be here.”
“If you look back at Saint-Tropez, I don’t think anyone would have thought we’d be top of the leaderboard right now. Securing four event wins – in Chicago, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Christchurch – has only shown the resilience of this team to stay in the fight and keep pushing forward,” Burling said.
Much of this morning’s pre-event media conference focused on the racetrack carnage in Christchurch, which saw three teams – Australia, Emirates GBR and Rockwool Denmark – penalized for contact. That included a nine season-point penalty for Australia which driver Tom Slingsby said was “harsh.”
“We disagree with the amount of penalty points – we don’t think we deserved the most in SailGP history, we don’t think it was reckless sailing,” said Slingsby.
The SailGP fleet in action during a practice session ahead of the Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix in Bermuda. Friday 3rd May 2024. Photo: Felix Diemer for SailGP. Handout image supplied by SailGP
Reflecting on the Black Foils’ own experience, Burling countered: “The penalty points are ridiculously harsh for crashing but the policy is pretty set. We’ve been hit by it ourselves in past seasons – it’s very harsh but very clear in terms of what the penalties are when you have these incidents. “Everyone is trying their utmost to keep these boats apart.”
This weekend’s event will unfold closer-to-shore than ever before in Bermuda, with a new purpose-built race stadium at Morgan’s Point. And if today’s official racing practice is anything to go by, the Great Sound will see no shortage of spills, thrills and boat-on-boat action. The new-look US SailGP Team had a dramatic capsize in the third practice race of the day – no athletes were injured onboard, but assessment of the team’s F50 is ongoing.
Commenting on the weekend’s conditions, Black Foils coach Ray Davies said: “It’s looking like epic conditions on Saturday, with 15-18 knots northeast. On Sunday, just a bit lighter but still perfect conditions for some close racing.”
The Apex Bermuda Sail Grand Prix tomorrow Saturday 4 May at 2pm local time, with racing live and on-demand on ThreeNow at 5am NZT Sunday.
