The second round of the fifth season of SailGP takes place this weekend in Aucklandwhere sailing is a national sport and about 10,000 fans are expected in the vicinity of Waitematā Harbour, near the center of the most populated city in New Zealand. As is normal, Kiwi fans are devoted to the local team, the Black Foilswho scored the victory in Dubai, in the first Grand Prix of the season. The New Zealand boat has raised many expectations after reaching a top speed of 97.2 km/h in the first training session in Auckland, characterized by the debut of the T-foils.
The entire fleet debuts these new hydrofoils that allow the F50 catamarans to fly over the water. The new appendages are made from a combination of titanium and carbon and feature thinner sections than previous L-foils. This will give greater stability to the boats, in addition to reducing drag and improving control at high speeds. If the conditions are met, the T-foils will allow boats to reach 100 km/h.
At the head of the Spanish team, Diego Botín has valued the importance of this change: «The new T-foils change our boat completely, we are all learning a lot. Now we have much more power and speed, but the way we drive changes a lot. For us the start is very important and with the T-foils we have to adapt, but we have felt good in training.
In the opinion of the Spanish pilot, the conditions in Auckland are perfect. «It is very difficult to make predictions, let’s see what the result is because maybe we don’t see the same teams in the first positions», he added.
In addition to the new T-foils, the other great Spanish novelty in Auckland regarding the Dubai event is that Matthew Barber replaces Ben Cornish as grinder. He is an old acquaintance of the Gallos, since he was part of the Spanish crew in the second season.
The fleet in the waters of the Kiwi city will once again be made up of 11 vessels. France was already absent in Dubai and had to race in the Auckland Grand Prix, but was grounded again due to a technical problem in the sail.
After the Dubai event, The Kiwis lead the standings with 10 pointsfollowed by Great Britain (9) and the United States (8). Spain is located in fourth position, with 7 points. The tests are held on Saturday and Sunday (starting at 4:00 in the morning in Spain) and can be seen on Movistar Plus+ Deportes 3 and YouTube, on the SailGP channel.
During training prior to the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix Auckland, The teams have tested a new format with the fleet divided into two groups of six. As explained by Russell Coutts, CEO of SailGP, it is possible to adopt this format for future Grand Prix. In each event, instead of the six events now, nine events would be held: four on Saturday (two for each group), and five on Sunday (two for each group and the Grand Final, to which the two best teams in each group would advance. ). According to Coutts, this format will provide more spectacle.
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