SailGP: Black Foils move to Season 5 lead after cancellation of racing on Day 2
by Ben Mackey, Black Foils 13 Sep 12:38 UTC
BlackFoils (NZL) - Race Day 1 - Rockwool France SailGP - Saint Tropez - September 12, 2025 © Felix Diemer/SailGP
Due to forecast incoming thunderstorms in Saint-Tropez, the decision was made by SailGP to cancel Day 2’s racing.
Following that decision points for the event have been awarded based on the results of Day 1’s racing on Friday putting the Black Foils in second place behind event winners Emirates Great Britain. However the second place result was sufficient to enable the New Zealand team to moved past Australia, with whom they were on equal points, to take the lead on the Season 5 leaderboard, with three events left to sail.
Black Foils Co-CEO Blair Tuke said while teams were looking forward to another day of racing, safety and the protection of assets was the first priority.
“This weather was always in the forecast and we can certainly understand the league’s decision to ensure the safety of athletes and fans along with the need to protect assets including the F50s. We have protocols around weather events like lightning for a reason.”
Tuke said the team would take a lot from Friday’s racing in Saint-Tropez.
“I am really proud of the way the team raced yesterday. As always there are moments we will look back on that could’ve helped us gain a few places but we will go away and work on those details. The great thing is that we will have a chance to put them into practice quickly with Geneva coming up next weekend.”
The teams now move to Switzerland next week for the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix | Geneva starting Saturday 20 September 2025. All the action will be live in New Zealand on ThreeNow and Youtube.