Sailing-Black Foils focus on future after tough SailGP season

LONDON, Sept 22 : Black Foils co-CEO Blair Tuke said the New Zealand team are building for the future, including protecting the oceans fundamental to their sport, as they near the end of what he said had been a "really tough" SailGP season.

A high-speed crash with France in front of New Zealand's home crowd in February resulted in the team's sailors being shore bound for months and missing four events while SailGP built a replacement for their F50 catamaran, which was beyond repair.  

"It's been a really tough one is probably the only way to put it. We had four months when we didn't sail or race as a team," Tuke told Reuters in a recent interview.

"It's a mix now. We're obviously trying to build for next season and develop, but probably the best way to do that is to try and put your best foot forward and to race well and put yourselves under pressure," the 37-year-old wing trimmer added.

With no prospect of reaching November's grand final in Abu Dhabi, the team are also working on developing new talent.

"The season's out of reach," Tuke said, adding that Black Foils, who now lie 12th on the season leaderboard, were aiming to "win race weekends and build processes and experience that sets us up for the future".

Tuke is a fan of the new group racing format that splits SailGP's now 13-strong fleet in two, partly as a precaution aimed at avoiding clashes like the dramatic one in Auckland.

"It had to happen at some point as SailGP grew and I think following some of the incidents that happened earlier this year it maybe got fast-tracked a little quicker," he said.

'MUCH BIGGER THAN OURSELVES'

Tuke said New York-based MSP Sports Capital's acquisition of a majority stake in the Black Foils gives them a "really exciting opportunity", both