Sailing: Mixed day for New Zealand SailGP team in latest event in Singapore

The New Zealand Sail GP team copped a penalty in practice but won the opening race in Singapore. Photo / Getty

In their return to the water following a two-month break, the frustrations for the New Zealand SailGP team began before racing event began in Singapore.

Earlier in the week during a practice sail, the Kiwis were deemed to be at fault for a collision with Jimmy Spithill’s American team and were docked four points for the event – seeing them come into the opening race with ground to make up.

They got off to the perfect start once racing began in their bid to erase that deficit quickly, winning the opening race of the regatta before finishing fifth in the second. Because a lack of wind saw a near hour-long delay before racing got underway, only two of the scheduled three fleet races were contested, leaving the Kiwis in sixth on the event ladder with 12 points at the end of the day.

“You know you’re going to have to put together a special weekend to make that final,” wing trimmer Blair Tuke said of starting the regatta on –4 points.

“So many of these weekends are now coming down to a couple of points so if you’re going to make the final you have to sail well across the three, four, five races – however many you get.

“You can’t change that; you just have to try and do the best you can. It would’ve been nice to get a couple more points in that second race today, but the team sailed the boat really well and that gives us confidence heading into tomorrow.

It was the second time in as many events that the Kiwi crew have been impacted by a crash.

In Dubai last November, they were ruled to be at fault for making contact with the Swiss team during the start of the final fleet race and penalised four event points which saw them miss out on a spot in their fourth podium race of the season.

In the opening race in Singapore, helmsman Peter Burling positioned the boat perfectly in the starting box, flying down the preferable middle line to take an early lead.

Sneaking ahead of the Denmark team to lead at the first mark, the race was the Kiwis’ to lose. It was slow going, but as the New Zealanders made a clean turn around the mark and the Australians and Denmark didn’t, New Zealand went on to claim a 39-second win in the shortened four-leg course.

It wasn’t such smooth sailing in the second race, however. Pushed wide in the starting box, the Kiwis were handed an early penalty for their proximity to another boat which saw them fall to the back of the fleet.

In such light conditions, it seemed there was little hope for the rest of the race. However, the hope of at least a decent haul of the points returned quickly as the team came flying into the mark as the other boats were struggling to get around the mark.

They were able to move up to fifth, and looked set to finish in fourth, but got caught inside the Canadians heading around the final mark; Canada’s Kiwi driver Phil Robertson maintaining a strong line to pass the New Zealand team and beat them out for fourth.

Despite going into the day with a four-point deficit, the Kiwis head into the second day of racing six points behind leaders Australia and two points outside of a spot in the podium race.