Australia win SailGP Auckland on the Waitematā Harbour. Photo: Bob Martin for SailGP
Aussie Tom Slingsby is already braced for a Kiwi backlash, after stealing victory on NZ waters for the first time at SailGP Auckland.
The three-time champions were deposed by Spain last year and failed to reach the final of the new season-opener at Dubai last November, arriving in Auckland under a little pressure to bounce back.
They did so in emphatic style, winning twice and finishing in the top five through the first six of seven fleet races to secure their spot in the three-boat final. Australia then overcome a mechanical fault in the final fleet race to distance Spain and Great Britain in the event climax.
Meanwhile, New Zealand, who led the overall standings after winning at Dubai, struggled with the blustery conditions and failed to reach the final, leaving a bitter taste in the mouth of driver Peter Burling.
Slingsby admits the win - any win - is special, but knows his archrivals will now target next month's regatta at Sydney for revenge.
"Honestly, getting a win, they're hard to come by in SailGP and we haven't won that many events in the last few years," he said. "Winning here in New Zealand does feel good.
"Aussies and Kiwis are always into each other, and they've got a chance to pay us back at the next event in Sydney, so we've got to try to defend out title there."
Black Foils in action at SailGP Auckland. Photo: Bob Martin for SailGP
Australia were atop the SailGP table after winning in Sydney last year, but their collision with a marker buoy on Christchurch's Lyttelton Harbour marked the beginning of the end of their reign, as they missed three of the next four finals and eventually lost their crown to the Spanish at San Francisco.
Slingsby insisted all week that his team wasn't far off the pace and proved it, consistently nailing the starts, while others around them - including the Black Foils - faltered.
"Winning the start is the most important thing," he said. "We felt like we were fighting at the front of the fleet - first to fifth - all weekend, because we had good starts.
"At the back, I know how hard it is back there, if you have a bad start. If you look at us against some of the other top teams, like the Kiwis, they didn't start as well as they usually did, we started exceptionally well and that was a huge difference.
"We were able to stay ahead of that pack they were in the whole time and they had a hard time in the pack."
The Black Foils were scratchy on day one, but seemed to have salvaged their hopes with victory in race four, leaving them just a point outside the top-three final contenders.
On Sunday, a fourway battle developed between them, Spain, Italy and Denmark for the last spot. They were still in the hunt with fourth in opening race, but they had to do too much through the course to make up for their poor starts.
Denmark almost topple over during SailGP Auckland. Photo: Photosport/Felix Diemer for SailGP
Sixth in the next race left them needing disaster to strike their rivals in the last, but another dire start left them at the back of the pack early. They miraculously worked their way through the field for second, but Spain simply shadowed them to clinch their progress.
"For us, a really frustrating day," reflected Burling. "I felt, yesterday, we were building really nicely with a win in the last race, but today, we went out and - without wanting to blame equipment - half our build-up was spent waiting for a censor issue to be resolved in the wing.
"Then we had a big issue in the wing control system in the first race and we felt like we were battling the whole way. The team did an amazing job getting the boat around the track in as good a shape as they did.
"Then it didn't quite get resolved in time to make the start of race two, so we got off the back of that one. Race three was the first time we had a normal build-up and it was great to get a solid result on the board, but it was a bit of a shame to just miss the final."
Spain finished two points clear of New Zealand and Denmark, with newcomers Italy falling away over the final two races. The most miraculous performance of the day came from the Danes, who almost toppled their F50 boat in warm-ups, but regrouped for back-to-back wins to end their weekend.
Australia limped off the course in the last fleet race, raising some fears they might not make the startline for the final.
"We went around the bottom mark, and felt like something broke or went really soft in the steering system," said Slingsby. "We did the tack and we were able to still foil, but something felt wrong in the helm load."
With their place set, he elected to stop and get the boat checked by shore crew, who cleared it to finish the regatta.
Another great start gave the Aussies the upperhand throughout the threeway duel, but Spain made up ground on the fourth and fifth legs, and tried to sneak into the lead around the fifth mark.
"It felt good, the place we were in on that last upwind," said driver Diego Botin. "We just didn't get the lead around that top mark and didn't execute our bearaway perfectly.
Australia celebrate their SailGP Auckland victory. Photo: Brett Phibbs for SailGP
"They were in a strong position and we just didn't get them, but it was close."
As the Aussies celebrated their SailGP resurgence, Burling was already looking ahead.
"We felt like we left a lot of points out there this weekend and to walk away with fourth, we're pleased with," he offered. "It could have been a lot worse, especially with the gear issues today.
"We're under no illusions, we have to sharpen up on a few things and continue to improve. That was a positive for us - both days, we improved through the day and the last race of the day was our best race.
"Now we're looking forward to the next event in Sydney and trying to knock off the Australians there."
The result leaves the British atop the season standings, with the Kiwis second and Aussies third, and the Sydney event scheduled for 8/9 February.
