Sailing: Sail GP, Australia triumphs in Auckland. New Zealand only fourth

‘The home of the world’s most exciting racing on water’: like any self-respecting international circuit, the ‘sale’ of the product remains fundamental with the obvious pinch of self-aggrandizement. But the stage in Auckland, the second of Sail GP 2025, kept its promise, giving 30 thousand people – sitting on a stadium-style grandstand facing the sea – a fantastic show. The F50s are already the flying catamarans par excellence but the technical innovation of the T-foils has made them missiles on two hulls, 15 meters long, capable of reaching 50 knots at a speed of almost 100 km/h. Not all the teams managed to manage them well, there was no shortage of ‘capsules’ but it’s just a matter of finding your hand. Someone, evidently, immediately found the right key: Australia, led by Tom Slingsby (ex-Laser ace and helmsman of American Magic at the last America’s Cup), took the liberty of winning the stage right in the home of the ‘hated ‘ New Zealand cousins.

new zealand

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In fact, in New Zealand – despite the advantage of great support and home waters – things went badly. The team of national legend Peter Burling only finished fourth, also preceded by Diego Botin’s Spain and Dylan Fletcher’s Emirates GBR. Sixth place for Red Bull Italy, however an improvement compared to the first stage in Abu Dhabi: in the seven races held, the sailors led by Ruggero Tita came in third place three times out of eleven starters. With the two-time Olympic gold medalist, the Australian Kyle Langford, the American Alex Sinclair and the Italians Giulia Fava, Andrea Tesei, Matteo Celon, Enrico Voltolini took turns on board. Jimmy Spithill, team CEO, commented: “This weekend was a clear step forward for us. I have seen huge improvements in teamwork, execution and strategy which gives us great confidence ahead of Sydney.” A good result, in fact, which allows us to hope for Red Bull Italy to climb to better positions than the current 11th in the circuit, with only 5 points to its credit. In the lead, with 17 points, are New Zealand and Emirates GBR while with 16 are Australia and Spain.

taranto

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Considering the show, it is a real shame that Taranto has decided to give up the Sail GP stage, scheduled for 6 and 7 September. A few days ago, the Municipal Administration announced the cancellation “in the face of new critical issues in the area whose unavoidability required priority actions, in particular regarding the guarantee of essential services for citizens and the safeguarding of employment protection for workers”. The result was a bit of an uproar on a political level, due to the considerable economic damage to the tourist sector which was ready to welcome the circus and was expecting a large number of curious people. Amen, we will talk about it again (we doubt) in 2026, meanwhile from Auckland all the teams are already thinking about the next stage, scheduled for Sydney on 8 and 9 February.