Peter Burling and the New Zealand Black Foils sailed a flawless podium race on the Hudson River on Sunday to win the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix and clinch a spot in SailGP’s $2 million, winner-take-all Grand Final in San Francisco next month.
Burling skippers Kiwis to New York regatta win and clinches spot in SailGP’s $2M Grand Final
Peter Burling and the New Zealand Black Foils sailed a flawless podium race on the Hudson River on Sunday to win the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix and clinch a spot in SailGP’s $2 million, winner-take-all Grand Final in San Francisco next month.
Burling and his mates took the inside position at the start and kept their 50-foot foiling catamaran ahead of Phil Robertson of Canada and Giles Scott of Britain to win for the fifth time in 12 regattas. They still need to get through the San Francisco regatta in one piece on July 13 and 14 but will have a spot on the starting line of the three-boat Grand Final for the second straight year.
Three-time defending SailGP champion Tom Slingsby and Team Australia missed the podium race for the second straight regatta but leap-frogged Spain into second place in the season standings. The Aussies went 9-1 in Sunday’s two fleet races and finished fourth overall.
The Kiwis have exerted dominance despite a stunning setback in the season’s third regatta, when their wingsail suddenly shattered and fell into the Mediterranean minutes after they had completed the first day of racing in Saint-Tropez. They were forced to the docks for the rest of that regatta and the next regatta.