'A lot of positives': Black Foils impress; France set new SailGP speed record in Germany

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Author: Christopher Reive,
Publish Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2026, 8:24am

The Black Foils made a strong start to their weekend in SailGP's return to Germany. Photo / SailGP

Coming into SailGP’s regatta in Sassnitz, Germany, this weekend, New Zealand’s Black Foils were looking to get back to where they once were.

In a heavily disrupted season, the team has struggled to recapture the sort of form that saw them compete in the league grand final over each of the last three seasons.

But every event poses a new opportunity to get one step closer to finding that groove, and they did just that on day one of racing on the Baltic Sea.

The Black Foils ended their day at the top of their group after three fleet races, with a first, second and a third. They sat one point ahead of France in the seven-strong group A, but in a healthy position to qualify for the podium race while Spain were four points further back in third. Australia sat at the top of the six-boat group B, one point ahead of Artemis Sweden in a tightly contested group.

“I think we took a lot of positives from today,” Black Foils strategist Liv Mackay said.

“We definitely feel really solid in those conditions. We’ve put a lot of emphasis on the warm-up to get comfortable, so yeah, [I] feel like we did that well, which set us up on the front foot going into those first couple of races.

“The venue here is quite cool in that every race is so different. So, there’s still a lot to learn going into tomorrow, which will be quite similar, but [I] really enjoyed it.”

With the top four teams – two from each group – moving on to challenge for the event title at the end of tomorrow’s fleet racing, it’s a step in the right direction for the New Zealand crew.

But it’s one they will now look to kick on from.

In Portsmouth last month, the Black Foils began the event with what wing trimmer and co-chief executive Blair Tuke said was their best racing of the season so far.

They then came out and struggled on day two, ultimately missing out on the event final.

Things began in the best fashion for the Kiwis in Sassnitz, with a strong start in gusty conditions having them sit second around the first mark. Early on leg two they had put themselves in the lead and, with a clean race, they shot away from there.

A similarly good start in race two set them up for another good result, but a boundary penalty for pushing things a touch too wide before turning back in towards the course.

It wasn’t too costly as they held on to third place after giving up the required 20m, but they did lose touch with the leaders France and Spain for a moment.

But by the midway point of the third leg, they were back amongst the top two and held on to finish second.

It was a different story in the last race of the day, in which the Kiwis had to remind the fleet just how good they can be at making their way through the fleet after a slow start.

The Black Foils benefitted from loose moments by Denmark and Spain at the front of the pack after the high-speed sprint to the first mark.

Both boats exceeded the 100km/h mark when rounding the mark but couldn’t come out of their turns cleanly and nosedived.

Meanwhile, France, sailing slightly wider on the course, broke the SailGP speed record of 103.93km/h – set by Denmark at the same venue last season – as they were clocked sailing 107.63km/h around the same part of the course, and the Black Foils also hit the 100km/h mark.

That set them up nicely as they had places to make up, and some smart decision-making around the course saw them ultimately finish in third.

The team will now look to secure a place in an event final for the first time this season.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.