HomeMagazineBoat WorldBlack foils slow to fire Downunder

Black foils slow to fire Downunder

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Waitematā Harbour put on a stunning spectacle on the weekend of 18-19 January for Sail GP’s second stop, with Australia crowned the winner of the inaugural ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix Auckland.

The Black Foils were unable to pull off a fairytale performance on home waters, missing out on the top three and a final’s berth after experiencing boat issues and poor starts.

The Final saw Australia, Emirates Great Britain, and Spain up in the winner-takes-all final. Even with much more room on the racetrack, the teams still remained neck-and-neck, with Australia taking the first mark and keeping the lead for the majority of the race to produce their first victory of the 2025 Rolex SailGP Championship season.

The SailGP circus moved to Sydney, Australia for the third event of the season, February 8-9 where Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team claimed their inaugural 2025 Season victory on Championship Sunday. The win was also a first for driver Dylan Fletcher after a hard-fought three-boat showdown against the Northstar Canada SailGP Team, which finished second, and hometown favourites, Australia in third.

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Once again, the Black Foils struggled to find form, posting disappointing results on the first day, although they rallied on Day Two with a first and a second but still missed the cut for the final.

With the points from Sydney now tallied, Emirates Great Britain tops the Rolex SailGP 2025 Season leaderboard with 27 points. Australia is second overall with 24 points, and Spain rounds out the podium in third with 20 points. New Zealand came eighth in Sydney, bumping the team off the podium and into fourth in the overalls.

Next up, all eyes turn to the U.S. slate of events – a triple header in Los Angeles (March 16-17, 2025), San Francisco (March 23-24, 2025) and New York (June 8-9, 2025) – plus an iconic first stop in the stunning Rio de Janeiro, May 4-5, 2025.

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Boating NZ is New Zealand’s premier marine title devoted to putting its readers behind the wheel of the latest trailerboats, yachts and launches to hit the market. It inspires with practical content and cruising adventures, leads the fleet with its racing coverage and is on the pulse of the latest maritime news and innovation.

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