The key behind New Zealand SailGP team’s big improvements in sophomore season in the league

The New Zealand SailGP team won 16 races during their second season in the competition. Photo: Bob Martin / SailGP

What a difference a year can make.

In the SailGP grand final last year, the New Zealand crew were a non-factor. In their first season on the worldwide foiling league, the Kiwis struggled for consistency given the way the schedule worked out.

The group took their opportunity to join the league, but spent the season chopping and changing their crew as some of the stops on the series clashed with other major events including the Olympic Games. In a series where all teams in the fleet sail on a one-design foiling catamaran and practice time is limited to just a couple of days during race weeks, not being on the boat means improvement is hard to come by.

The Kiwis failed to win an event in the season two circuit and, while they went into the last event with a mathematical chance of making the final three, they didn’t make much of an impact and finished fifth overall.

In their second year on the circuit, things significantly changed.

The New Zealand crew were the big improvers in the series this year, being the winningest team in the league with 16 race wins. Australia — who continued their run as the only team to claim a SailGP season title — won 15 races in the season, including the most important one.

With three event wins, a couple of other podium finishes, a settled crew throughout the season and the guidance of coach Ray Davies, the New Zealanders jumped from fifth to second overall — falling just short of pipping the Australians in the grand final in San Francisco on Monday after trailing for the majority of the US$1m race.

“We pushed as hard as we could in that opportunity. We want to be as close as we possibly can and always fighting until the very last minute,” Kiwi strategist Liv Mackay recalled to the Herald.

“I think it makes us proud as a team, how we raced that final, but obviously it was pretty bittersweet rounding that reach mark with them just there. It was pretty brutal, but that’s why SailGP is so good to watch and is such good racing.”

“It’s pretty cool when you say it like that, from fifth to second,” she added of the team’s improvements. “It’s exciting - it just feels like we’re getting stronger and hopefully going into Chicago we’ll start next season off strong.”

With only a month separating the end of one season and the beginning of the next, the gap between campaigns is shorter than some during the season — although the new season will be a long affair with an extra event on the schedule and rumours of a 10th team being entered into the competition. Among those 12 events, SailGP will be returning to New Zealand, with a regatta in Auckland in early 2024 after a successful debut in Lyttelton earlier this year.

But while the series doesn’t miss a beat between seasons, Mackay said the New Zealand team would likely take some downtime between events in a bid to refresh themselves heading into Chicago.

“We really put all the focus on this event, but the team will probably have a little bit more of a break in the meeting and review side of things going into the next season so we are feeling a bit refreshed. We love racing, so it’s not a bad thing just to keep the momentum going and I’m sure we’ll be excited to get into it in Chicago.”

NZ SailGP team - by the numbers

Race wins

Debut season: 3

Sophomore season: 16

Event wins

Debut season: 0

Sophomore season: 3

Event podium finishes

Debut season: 0

Sophomore season: 2