Source: Radio New Zealand
Australia celebrate their New Zealand SailGP victory off auckland’s Wynyard Point. Getty Images
Despite defending his New Zealand SailGP crown off Auckland’s Wynyard Point, Aussie supremo Tom Slingsby harbours mixed feelings about how his team achieved their feat.
The three-time series champion had a front-row view of the horrible high-speed crash that sent New Zealand and France out of the regatta on Saturday, and admitted the Kiwis’ absence played a big part in the Flying Roos’ repeat success.
“Us winning in Auckland again, I’m not sure why, but it’s become a very happy hunting ground for us and it was very unfortunate the Kiwis weren’t there today,” Slingsby reflected. “We always want to compete against the best teams and the Kiwis, in those conditions, would have been our biggest rivals, I feel.
“Sad for them not being there, but we just focused on ourselves and we’re really happy to convert it into a win.”
Slingsby and Black Foils counterpart Peter Burling have developed a strong rivalry over their years on the professional sailing circuit, and the incident took its toll on the Aussies, as it did on the rest of the fleet.
“I happened to be looking right at it when it happened,” he said. “It was very scary.
“The Kiwis, as a team, we love to hate them, but individually, I love all of those guys. They’re just amazing people and, when a crash like that happens, I instantly think, ‘They’re all my friends and friends I’ve had for a long, long time’.
“When they called off the race, I was happy, because my mind definitely wasn’t on the game. We want the Kiwis out there and we don’t want to see anything like that ever.”
NZ grinder Louis Sinclair suffered compound fractures to both legs in the mayhem and underwent surgery on his right leg overnight. Slingsby messaged Burling to offer his support and hoped to see the Kiwis back on the water soon, although Sydney in two weeks seemed a stretch.
“They’re a champion team,” he said. “No-one knows timelines or when they’ll be back, but we know the day they come back, even if it’s not for championship wins this season, they’ll be out to win as much prize money and events as they can.”
NZ boat ‘Amokura’ was virtually destroyed, when it swerved into the path of the French, who flew over the bow and sliced it in two.
Some drivers questioned the sense of having 13 boats jockeying for position on such a small course in tricky wind conditions and organisers responded by introducing a split-fleet format for the first time on Sunday.
The fleet had experimented with smaller fields in practice, with the anticipated addition of a 14th team next year likely to force the change fulltime.
Slingsby had mixed feelings about the reduced format.
“The racer in me wants the full fleet there,” he said. “I just feel like the full fleet is why we do this – it’s lots of boats and lots happening.
Black Foils boat ‘Amokura’ is salvaged, after crashing with France on the Waitematā Harbour. Felix Diemer for SailGP
“At the same time, you’ve got to make changes, when something like that happens, whether it’s a permanent change or not. At least for today, I totally agree with the split fleet.
“We need to show we’re making changes here and not taking this accident lightly. With windy conditions today and a bigger forecast, I think it was the right call.”
While common sense prevailed, the diluted version felt like the SailGP equivalent of golden oldies scrums in rugby. Let’s just get out of Auckland with no further damage.
Racing was already brought forward to avoid the worst of the weather forecast and conditions changed dramatically again for the three-boat final, where speeds reached 100kmh and crews battled just to keep their boats upright.
Slingsby and his team now head home to Sydney, and he doubts two weeks will allow enough time for New Zealand or France to repair their boats.
“From my technical and structural knowledge of these boats, I think there’s no chance either of those boats are there,” he said.
“For sure you’re facing mental battles. We had a bit incident in Christchurch a couple of years ago and I remember, heading back out onto the racetrack, there were a few little scars there.
“As soon as they fire the gun, I was able to black it out and we got straight back into it.
“I know Peter Burling better than most people, and he will just get back in there and be ripping around the whole way.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand