In an event where the leader at mark one has won every race, things shaped up nicely for the Kiwis. From there they were able to control the race, fending off the Spanish on the third leg, before doing well to stay ahead of the Americans on the penultimate leg.
It wasn’t plain sailing for the crew all day, though.
After criticism from some of the skippers, the racecourse was switched back to its usual configuration, scrapping the second reaching mark at the start of the course in favour of allowing more room for proper racing.
It had the desired effect, with plenty of battles around the course in the two fleet races of the day.
Coming into day two, the Kiwis were in a strong position after three of the five fleet races as they ended the opening day second on the leaderboard.
Things got off to a terrible start on day two, however, as they were early to cross the starting line and had to go to the back of the fleet. On the plus side for Peter Burling and his crew, they were one of seven teams to cross early so there was still life in the race.
The Kiwis did well to fight their way back into sixth place for the race, but that saw them fall one point outside of the three available spots in the podium race.
That meant things came down to the final fleet race, and while they didn’t get off to a great start, the Kiwis were smart to make a sharp turn around the first mark which allowed them to sail the next leg in clean air.
It saw them climb through the fleet and get as high as third, but they lost ground on the following leg.
With several teams still in with a shot of making the podium race, there were plenty of scenarios in play. As things played out, with the Kiwis and Canada battling for fifth, it became clear the New Zealand boat would need to finish ahead of France to secure the spot in the main event.
Canada’s Kiwi driver Phil Robertson certainly didn’t make life easy for the New Zealanders though, doing his best the prevent the Kiwis from making the podium race and nearly costing them. Robertson would have been thinking that if his team finished before the Kiwis then they might earn a spot in the podium race ahead of Peter Burling’s crew.
Canada were able to get ahead of the Kiwis on the final leg, and Robertson pulled out his match-racing tricks to stay ahead of the New Zealanders and get in their way.
It opened the door for France to make a late charge, closing in on the finish line at a fast rate than the Kiwis. It forced Burling to make a couple of moves himself, ultimately getting the Kiwis over the line with a boat length to spare. Had France gotten ahead of the Kiwis, it would have been them who went into the podium race, not Robertson’s Canadian team.
With the Kiwis going on to take out the event, they’ll head back into more familiar waters over the next couple of months with some momentum, with events in Sydney (February 24-25) and Christchurch (March 23-24) next on the schedule.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
