New Zealand entered this last regatta as runners-up overall but was still vulnerable to France and fourth-placed Great Britain.
A crucial third place finish in the third and final race of the opening day of the San Francisco SailGP Regatta bolstered New Zealand’s claim for a place in the Grand Finals.
Australia’s Tom Slingsby flexed his muscles on Sunday (NZT) with two wins and a third to take control of the 11th and final regatta of Season 3.
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Great Britain held a crucial advantage over New Zealand on the opening day of SailGP action in San Francisco.
Two-time world champions Australia have already qualified for the grand final and the real excitement is who will join them in this $1 million, three-boat, winner-takes-all race.
On a turbulent day, the Kiwis were hampered by poor starts but did enough to get 4, 7, 3 results and remain in charge of their own destiny.
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New Zealand has caused quite a stir in its second full SailGP season.
Ben Ainslie’s Britain team were the big movers and with a win and two seconds they are poised to eliminate France from these big finals calculations.
The French had a shocker, going 6, 8, 6 and if the grand final were run now the Brits would claim third at the start line.
Ainslie was best aggressively against the French, deftly targeting them in the pre-starts and making them errors that allowed him to win on the circuit.
France need to make some big improvements in the final two fleet races on Monday to get back into that big final frame.
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France and Canada narrowly avoided each other as the stakes increased at the San Francisco SailGP regatta.
But even the Kiwis need to make some improvements if they’re going to win the big money race somehow.
Importantly, they stayed out of trouble and managed to cover the French in their private fight.
But they didn’t have the boat speed or consistency of the Australians and British.
Now her goal is to find an extra gear on Monday.
New Zealand’s Stella Bilger, 17, won Sunday’s SailGP Inspire Waszp U21 Women’s Grand Final, beating stiff competition from Rachael Betschart (Bermuda) and Hedvig Dokstrod (Norway) to clinch the title in the single-handed foiling to get class.
American Gavin Ball won the U21 men’s title ahead of Duncan Gregor (Great Britain) and Hippolyte Gruet (France).
Both Bilger and Ball will join their national SailGP teams in Season 4 and have the opportunity to race on an F50.
Bob Martin for SailGP/AP
Great Britain was the big mover on the opening day of SailGP action in San Francisco.
Earlier at the weekend New Zealand finished second behind Denmark in the Impact League, where teams are rated on their environmental sustainability.
New Zealand won $55,000 for its Live Ocean affiliate.
The Kiwis won this category last season but were overtaken by the Danes.
SailGP Grand Final Weekend, San Francisco
5 Fleet Races (3 Sunday, 2 Monday)
Race 1: 1 Australia, 2 UK UK, 3 Switzerland, 4 New Zealand, 5 Denmark, 6 France, 7 USA, 8 Canada, 9 Spain
Race 2: 1 Great Britain, 2 Canada, 3 Australia, 4 USA, 5 Switzerland, 6 Denmark, 7 New Zealand, 8 France, 9 Spain
Race 3: 1 Australia, 2 Great Britain, 3 New Zealand, 4 Canada, 5 Denmark, 6 France, 7 USA, 8 Spain, 9 Switzerland.
San Francisco points after 3 of 5 races: 1 Australia 28, 2 Great Britain 28, 3 New Zealand 19, 4 Denmark 18, 5 Canada 18, 6 Switzerland 16, 7 USA 15, 8 France 13, 9 Spain 7.
Season 3 Points on the Road to San Fran: Australia 84, New Zealand 73, France 69, Great Britain 68, Denmark 60, Canada 59, USA 57, Switzerland 29, Spain 29.
The top three teams in the season standings will qualify for the $1M Grand Finals.
