A costly error on the final leg of fleet racing has seen the New Zealand SailGP Team having to settle for fourth place in their return to the global foiling league in Cadiz.
Needing to finish the fifth of five fleet races ahead of the United States to beat them out for the last place in the event’s podium race, the Kiwis put themselves into a strong position to close that out. They got an advantageous position in rounding the final marker, forcing the USA to sail on their outside.
But whether it was a case of trying to prevent Jimmy Spithill from sharply turning inside them or otherwise, the Kiwi crew made the call to turn down toward the finishing line almost as soon as they had rounded the mark.
The turn put them directly into the path of Great Britain and they lost all momentum as they had to get out of the way. While there was probably room for Sir Ben Ainslie to dive behind the Kiwis rather than continue on a line in front of them, the Kiwis were left to rue the decision as it opened the door for the USA to cruise over the finish line ahead of them.
That saw the New Zealand team miss out on the podium race after doing well to put themselves in a position to be there.