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Simon Hull took great pleasure in pointing out you're only as good as your last race.
Frank Racing were 10th out of 13 teams. Photo: GC32 world championships.
That was because Frank Racing won the final race of the GC32 world championships at Lake Garda last night (NZ time).
It's not quite as simple as Hull's assessment, however, and the all-Kiwi boat finished a respectable 10th of 13 starters in the inaugural GC32 world championships.
Switzerland's Team Tilt, which had Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Glenn Ashby on board, took the title ahead of SAP Extreme Sailing Team helmed by New Zealand's Adam Minoprio with Phil Robertson's Oman Air third.
The GC32 world championships also combined the first leg of the GC32 Racing Tour and second leg of the Extreme Sailing Series and the competitors in the latter proved they are battle-hardened by occupying four of the five spots.
Frank Racing were third out of five in the owner-driver category and Hull was satisfied with how they performed. He was joined on the boat by Team New Zealand grinder Guy Endean, Will Tiller, Josh Salthouse and Harry Hull.
"We are happy," he said. "We would have liked to have done better and probably could and should have done. The boys put us in some good positions but my lack of experience sailing these boats in bigger fleets cost us on occasion.
"But we were third in the owner-driver category and a couple of those teams have been on the circuit for a couple of seasons so we did OK. It was a steep learning curve, especially for me, and we have learned a heck of a lot in the week so onwards and upwards."
Frank Racing were actually ahead of Team Tilt after an abbreviated first day but the Swiss team's consistency thereafter was the difference. They were outside the top four only once over the remaining three days and won three of the 16 races.
Team Tilt won only three races but their consistency paid off. Photo: GC32 world championships.
SAP Extreme Sailing Team went into the final day in a strong position to challenge Team Tilt, having won three of five races on day three, but struggled as the breeze dropped away on the last day to finish eight points behind Team Tilt.
“We were equal to Tilt going out into the final races and we just didn’t sail that well. Things didn’t go our way,” said Minoprio, who helmed his team to victory in the Extreme Sailing Series last year. “[Team Tilt] continued to sail exceptionally and they finished a long way ahead of us, so congratulations to them. They sailed extremely well and were consistent throughout the whole regatta.”
Oman Air were another 11 points behind in third, which was disappointing for Robertson after they won the unofficial world championships last year in Oman.
“We’re kind of happy,” Robertson said. “We know we made a lot of mistakes. On two days we left a lot of points on the table which we need to eliminate going forward. We’re working hard on that and have had some pretty frank conversations about it, but it’s good. We’re improving, that’s the main thing.”
SAP Extreme Sailing Team lead the Extreme Sailing Series after two rounds, two points ahead of both Alinghi and Oman Air ahead of the third round in Barcelona next month.
Frank Racing head to Portugal for next month's second round of the GC32 Racing Tour feeling optimistic, especially after their win in the final race n Lake Garda.
"It sure was a nice way to finish," Hull said. "There was a bit of lightning around and the wind got lighter and lighter but we were in the mix the whole way around. You make one mistake and you drop back 4-5 places in these boats, and that was our problem at times in the regatta, but we managed to put it all together.
"It was everything I expected it to be and probably a bit more. It was a privilege to be on the race course with some of these guys, who are world champions and America's Cup winners."
Scores and standings after four days of racing at the GC32 world championships at Lake Garda:
1 Team Tilt 60
2 SAP Extreme Sailing Team 68
3 Oman Air 79
4 Alinghi 88
5 INEOS Rebels UK 88
6 NORAUTO 94
7 Red Bull Sailing Team 111
8 Realteam 129
9 Argo 129
10 Frank Racing 135
11 Zoulou 135
12 Team México 172
13 .film Racing 179
Full results can be found here.
