SailGP: Black Foils look for strong finish to Europe circuit
by Ben Mackey - Black Foils 3 Oct 23:35 BST
Black Foils - New Zealand - Practice Day - DP World Spain Sail Grand Prix - Cadiz, Spain - October 3, 2025 © Felix Diemer/SailGP
The race to the Rolex SailGP Championship Grand Final is well and truly on as the teams enter the final event of the season before next month's final.
Teams enter this weekend's racing in Andalucía-Cádiz separated by narrow margins on the season table. The Black Foils (73 points) sit inside a tightly contested top three with the Bonds Flying Roos (76) taking top spot with Emirates Great Britain (75) in second. This week's local hopes Spain's Los Gallos (70) sit just outside that group three points back.
Teams got in a full round of practice racing on Friday with six split fleet races. The conditions meant the races were contested in the four up configuration.
Black Foils Co-CEO and Driver Peter Burling said there was all to race for this weekend.
"It's definitely no secret that Geneva was not the result we were looking for. The team's definitely been putting in a lot of hard work to really unpack that result and figure out how to make sure we move forward. For us, there were definitely some real positives in the light airs and we felt like we're doing some things really well, but just a few key decisions, I suppose, on my behalf really let us down. I think it shows you how close the racing is as well, where one or two decisions that aren't the best can really put you right to the back. I think that just shows you the level SailGP's getting to across the board and yeah for us it's about putting our best foot forward and making sure we put a good score on the board this weekend now."
Burling also noted the local elements that make racing in Cadiz unique.
"It's such a cool venue. Firstly, the fan experience being up on that wall, really getting that bird's eye view, is absolutely amazing. And I'm sure all the coaches will say it's probably their favorite venue from the booth. This would be one of the few venues where we can actually get swell coming in off the Atlantic. We've seen that in the past when the swell comes in, the boats become incredibly hard to sail. Currently the forecast's looking pretty flat for the weekend, with light sea breezes so it doesn't seem like it'll play a massive factor. It's great to come back to Cadiz again."
Finally the Black Foils Driver said it was exciting to have another opportunity to race for vital season points.
"I think any of the top four are super tight on the overall leaderboard at the moment, from Australia to Spain. So for us, it's really about making sure we keep putting good scores on the board. I'm sure it won't be decided prior to Abu Dhabi so, it'll be continuing to build momentum. I think we've said all season long, we just want to be the team that's on form going to into Abu Dhabi and we're really looking forward to making it a reality."
The DP World Spain SailGP Anualucia-Cadiz starts tomorrow at 03-30pm local time (01-30am Sunday NZT). All the action will be live in New Zealand on ThreeNow and live and free on Youtube.