SailGP Cadiz: New Zealand SailGP Team with work to do after opening day of Spain SailGP

The New Zealand SailGP Team finished sixth on the leaderboard after the opening day of racing in Cadiz. Photo: Felix Diemer/SailGP

In their return from an equipment malfunction, the New Zealand SailGP Team have ground to make up.

For the last one-and-a-half events, the Kiwis were first to watch from the sidelines as a collapsed wing sail meant they were unable to sail.

With the boat back on the water in Cadiz, Spain, this weekend, the crew went into the weekend knowing they had lost time to make up for.

However, it was a mixed opening day at the Spanish event for the Kiwi crew, finishing the day sixth on the table on 16 points; seven points outside of the podium spots and nine behind leaders Australia.

They will have two more fleet races on Monday morning to improve their position and stake their claim to a spot in the podium race which follows.

The day started in chaotic fashion with plenty of action in the starting box. Switzerland were disqualified from the race as they crossed the starting line for barging in when there was no room to do so, while Germany also carried a penalty in the starting gate and had to drop back. When the boats crossed the line, Canada were penalised as well, leaving a race to the first mark between New Zealand, Spain and the United States.

On a day of lighter swells, a shorter course and a bumpy sea state, conditions were tricky for the teams, but the Kiwis sailing towards to front end of the fleet in the opening race.

Looking to make up some ground on the teams in front, they split the course around the second gate and attacked the opposite side for the rest of the race. While it saw them have some success on the downwind leg, a bad turn on the final upwind leg saw them lose ground again and ultimately finish in fourth place.

It was a much cleaner race across the fleet in the second. The Kiwis started in the middle of the group and couldn’t find a way to move through the fleet to finish in fifth.

In the day’s final race, they got off to a horror start as an aggressive move by the French forced the Kiwis out of position in the starting box and they were the last team across the starting line.

That essentially ended their race before it had started, with conditions not lending their hand to massive moves through the fleet.

An eighth-place finish saw them collect just three points from the day’s final race, leaving themselves plenty to do on Monday, in what is expected to be a similar day in terms of conditions, to book a spot in the podium race.