New Zealand driver Peter Burling has debriefed a sparkling return to form on the first day of the Rolex Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix, which saw the team finish top of the leaderboard.
The Kiwis look set to carry their winning momentum forward to the second day of the event after scooping up two race wins thanks to blistering starts.
The team had a blip in the third fleet race, finishing 9th behind Emirates GBR, but bounced back in the final fleet race of the day, finishing second behind France.
Unpacking the team’s day on the water, Burling said he was ‘proud of the way the team fought and the way we kept improving during the day’, but admitted ‘it would have been nice to get a few more points in that third race’.
“It definitely got harder as the breeze dropped off, just with all the turbulence of having 12 boats on that super tight racecourse but awesome to be leading after day one and looking forward to tomorrow.”
New Zealand’s third fleet race got off to a bad start when the Kiwis and Swiss both picked up an OCS early start penalty for crossing the line early. Despite being sent to the back of the fleet, the Kiwis battled throughout to scrap a 9th place finish.
“We definitely didn’t quite nail it, but it just shows there are so many opportunities if you go to the back to come back through,” he said.
New Zealand is top of the leaderboard after four fleet races with 31 points, but will have to fight off stiff competition from NorthStar Canada in second with 28 and old time rivals Australia with 27 when racing resumes at 2pm PDT on Sunday, March 16.
