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The New Zealand SailGP Team will be chasing a first appearance in the three-boat final at this weekend's fifth round in St Tropez, France.
The Kiwis finished a credible fifth in the last round in Denmark, but it could have been even better if not for a two-point penalty for making contact with the French and an eighth-placed finish in the first fleet race on day two. The winds were often treacherously light, which made life even more difficult as teams made big gains and big losses.
"This event it felt like we were more on the unlucky side to finish fifth," skipper Peter Burling said afterwards.
The team was back at full strength for the Denmark round after Burling, Blair Tuke, Josh Junior and Andy Maloney had missed two events due to the Tokyo Olympics. Erica Dawson has also joined the team this week in France.
Australia hold a handy two-point lead over Great Britain in the overall standing but every team has shown glimpses of what they are capable of. There are still plenty of points to play for with the series only halfway through season two.
"There’s still plenty of racing so we’ve got to keep concentrating on getting into that final race, that’s really where the points are and from there you’ve always got a shot for the overall win," Tuke said recently. "That’s what the immediate goal is and I feel like we can do that over the next couple of events in Europe.”
You can catch this weekend's action live on Sky Sport (11.30pm each day) as well as on demand afterwards.
