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Canada edge out New Zealand in SailGP final

Richard Knowler

Kiwi Phil Robertson and his Canadian team unleashed all their powers on the water to spike New Zealand and Australia’s hopes of winning the SailGP regatta on Lyttelton Harbour yesterday.

It was a moment to savour for the Canadians, who claimed their first title on the circuit.

The New Zealanders, with driver Peter Burling eager to reward the local crowd with a victory, couldn’t match the Canadians, who made a superb start to the big showdown to keep the hosts and defending champion Tom Slingsby’s Australian boat at bay.

This was a race that had the crowd bellowing with delight and despair, in equal measure. Because until the sprint in the final leg it appeared the Kiwis could deliver the big prize.

It wasn’t to be – despite the Canadians having to survive several frights.

The Canadians, averaging speeds in excess of 50kph, got a major scare in the fourth leg when they went off their foils but quickly recovered to keep a lead of around 70m in the fifth leg.

It seemed Robertson and his team wouldn’t keep the New Zealand boat at bay as the lead changed, but they managed to remain composed to surge ahead to enter the final gate in front.

New Zealand qualified for the final after bagging a second and third placing in the fleet races held on day-two.

Australia made excellent starts to the first two fleet races, reminding the rest of the field they had lost none of their mojo after failing to notch a victory on

Saturday.

Minutes before the start of the opening race yesterday, Australian driver Tom Slingsby warned his opponents his team was motivated to improve on the fourth and second placings on day-one.

The third and final race on Saturday had been a dud for the Aussies after seaweed got caught on their rudder wing, forcing them out of contention in the first downward leg.

‘‘We need to start sailing better,’’ Slingsby said. ‘‘It is clear to see that the New Zealand team is the best team here, and we are not sailing as we have in the past. We believe if we do get our confidence up and start sailing better, then we can beat them. We are just concentrating on ourselves.’’

Slingsby proved true to his word. The Australians made the perfect start in race one, taking an early lead to leave the rest of the field to duke it out for the minor placings.

New Zealand, having drifted off the pace to be placed sixth after passing the second gate, recovered to finish second after keeping the French at bay ahead of the finish line. France had to be content with third placing, with Great Britain coming fourth.

The Aussies also owned the second race of the day, easy winners ahead of the United States, New Zealand and Canada with the latter doing enough to qualify for the final with their fourth placing.

New Zealand bagged a win and two second placings on the first day in front of a jubilant home crowd.

The Kiwis finished as top qualifiers for the final on 45 points, followed by Australia (38) and Canada (36).*

Sport

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2023-03-20T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-20T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282230899930187

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