SailGP Bermuda: Capsize rules USA team out as Black Foils sit fourth

The Black Foils are on the bubble.

On the opening day of the latest SailGP event in Bermuda, recovering from slow starts was the narrative of the day for the New Zealand team, who sit fourth on the ladder after the opening three races of the event.

Peter Burling and the Kiwi crew came into the weekend with a cosy nine-point lead at the top of the season leaderboard, but are hoping to push that lead out even further over the remaining four regattas before the three-boat grand final shootout which closes out the San Francisco event in July.

It was a reduced fleet competing on Sunday morning, with the United States being ruled out of the weekend after they capsized in practice racing on Saturday and suffered damage to their vessel.

The team had hoped the tech crew on site might be able to repair the boat and have them back on the starting line, but it was more a case of wishful thinking as their wingsail took the brunt of the damage.

“While thankfully our athletes are all okay, there was significant damage to the F50,” USA team chief executive Mike Buckley said. “Unfortunately it is not repairable in time for us to get back on the water for racing here in Bermuda. We are extremely disappointed. We will learn from this and are looking forward to being back on the water in Halifax.”

That saw the weekend reduced to a nine-boat fleet, with the Black Foils posting a third, fourth and fifth from the opening day’s racing. Australia sit at the top of the event leaderboard on 28 points with two wins and a third, ahead of Canada on 23 points, while Denmark and New Zealand both have 22 points.

Because Denmark finished ahead of the Black Foils in the most recent race, they ended the day in third with the New Zealand crew in fourth.

The troubles in the starting box started early for Peter Burling, when an aggressive move from his fellow Team New Zealand America’s Cup helmsman Nathan Outteridge, driving for the Swiss in SailGP, pinned the New Zealand boat on the outside of the course.

The Black Foils wound up in seventh when the dust settled around the first marker, but quickly made their way through the fleet to be in contention for a podium finish.

They looked set to close out second place behind Australia, but a crafty slingshot move by Canada around the final marker saw the New Zealanders settle for third.

The second and third races followed a similar script, with the Black Foils getting over the starting line towards the back of the fleet and having to fight their way forward. But again, they were able to do so, finishing both races in fourth to close out a solid day of results and remain in contention.

The teams will compete in two more fleet races on Monday morning, before the top three teams on the event leaderboard go on to contest the podium race.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.