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New Zealand's Black Foils must produce a near-perfect Sunday to reach the Spain Sail Grand Prix final after a difficult opening day in Valencia left them seventh in Group A.
A penalty for an early start in race one set the tone, with the team finishing sixth. A fourth place followed before another sixth left them eight points adrift of second-placed Red Bull Italy, who won two of the three races. Australia's BONDS Flying Roos lead the group on 11 points after taking the remaining race win.
"It was a really tough day today. We struggled to get off the line and then find opportunities beyond that," said driver Peter Burling.
Starts proved decisive in Valencia's light, tricky conditions, with all six Saturday race winners leading at the first mark. "If you can get your nose in front, build speed and get up on the foils, you're in really good shape at mark one. We couldn't quite manage to get that done today, so it was pretty frustrating," Burling said.
With 10 points available on Sunday, the Black Foils need at least eight — equivalent to a win and a third or two second places — to have any chance of advancing, depending on other Group A results.
"There's plenty to play for. A couple of teams have probably jumped out a little bit, but it's super close amongst the rest," Burling said. "It'll be whoever puts together a good performance tomorrow, and I'm sure we'll still have a shot at making the final going into that last race."
In Group B, Spain's Los Gallos gave the home crowd back-to-back wins before a second place, finishing on 14 points, two clear of ROCKWOOL Racing. Los Gallos have never reached a Final on home water, despite winning in Halifax and Portsmouth earlier this season.
Sunday's racing runs from 1.30pm to 3pm local time (11.30pm Sunday to 1am Monday NZT), with live coverage on ThreeNow.
