In light, patchy winds, the Black Foils finished second, third and fourth in their three Group B races to sit second overnight on nine points.
Australia’s BONDS Flying Roos lead the group on ten, with Emirates Great Britain and home team Explora Journeys Swiss just behind the Black Foils on eight. The top two teams in each group advance to the four-boat final.
The Black Foils’ most dramatic moment came in the final race of the day. After rounding all four marks in sixth, they edged past Red Bull Italy and Canada’s NorthStar just before the finish to claim fourth.
“All in all, it was a really good day,” said Black Foils co-CEO and wing trimmer Blair Tuke.
“We were in the fight the whole time, with hardly any respite, just fighting for every metre. That last race was a case in point. We snuck from sixth into fourth right on the finish line for two really valuable points.
“We talk as a group about every point being valuable, whether you’re trying to move from second to first or, like we were, sitting sixth and trying to scrape a point,” Tuke said. “Getting past those two boats was really important heading into tomorrow.”
Tuke said the light winds demanded precision from the whole crew.
“In my opinion, this racing is harder than pretty much all other conditions. It takes a lot of finesse and choreography between the crew to keep the boat sailing fast while making good decisions. In this stuff, you have to live with your decisions for quite a while.
“Blending all of that together is difficult, and I think we mostly did a good job today. Of course, we left some points out there, but if you’re heading into tomorrow with a chance, you’ve done some good things.”
The overnight debrief would focus on boat handling, decision-making and starts, Tuke said, after one good start and two tougher ones left the team chasing points.
Across the two groups, five races produced five different winners. ROCKWOOL Racing and Artemis each took a win from Group A’s two races to sit level on six points.
With just two points separating the top four teams in Group B, Tuke knows every place will count on Sunday.“It’s really close between a number of boats, so we’re going to have to put two good races together to make the final. But we’ve given ourselves a chance, and that’s pleasing. It’s all to play for tomorrow.”
