In season four, the Black Foils were the second-highest-earning team, taking home US$1.45m after five event wins, two other podiums and pocketing the US$350,000 bonus for topping the season leaderboard, before finishing third in the grand final.
Heading into this weekend’s event in Abu Dhabi, where the regatta itself will be decided by fleet races alone before the three-boat season grand final, the Black Foils remained in the hunt for a top-of-the-table finish.
Ahead of the regatta in Abu Dhabi, the New Zealand crew sat three points behind the British on the season leaderboard, which is by no means an unassailable gap.
They also go into the week with form in the Middle East on their side.
SailGP have held just four events in the region across its five seasons – with the Black Foils winning the last three of those and Australia winning the other. The New Zealand crew’s triumphs in the region included the season five opener in Dubai last November as well as the season four regattas in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The grand final shootout is likely to come down to the same three boats as the season three finale, with Great Britain, New Zealand and Australia all well poised to return.
Defending season champions Spain are the only other team who are in a position to force their way into the top three. However, they will need to finish the main Abu Dhabi regatta either four places ahead of Australia, six ahead of the Black Foils or nine ahead of Great Britain to earn the chance of defending the title.
SailGP season standings after 11 of 12 regattas
Great Britain – 85 points
Black Foils (New Zealand) – 82
Australia – 80
Spain – 76
France – 61
Canada – 48
Denmark – 38
Switzerland – 38
Germany – 31
Italy – 22
Brazil – 16
United States – 4
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
