#drumming up that tasman rivalry for clicks

[like-the-cut-of-your-jib]

2023Mar17: NZ HeraldSailGP Christchurch: Baptism of fire awaits Glenn Ashby with Swiss team; Australia hint at strategic sailing.

In short: Guy Andean and Glenn Ashby sailing for SUI … Tom Slingsby bitching about Team NZ, when AUS already in the Final.

Manufactured 🎭 & hype - Tom loves it

Excerpts from the article below—-

Only two teams have had the opportunity to get their hulls wet in the lead up to the weekend’s racing in Lyttelton, with New Zealand getting a chance to put their vessel, Amokura, through its paces in a 15-minute session on Thursday, following its repair from a lightning strike in Singapore which impacted the boat’s electronic and hydraulic systems.

Spain were also on the water on Thursday for a short sail in order to get new driver Diego Bontin some more time at the helm after he took over the role in Sydney last month.

It has been a decision that has drawn the ire of some of the league’s drivers, with several teams having crew changes coming into the event and the venue being largely unfamiliar around the fleet.

Tom Slingsby, who drives for the league-leading Australian team, said that while he understood why those two teams were allowed to sail on Thursday, it gave them a leg up heading into the opening fleet races on Saturday and, with New Zealand in second place it could give the hosts even more of an advantage as they look to consolidate their position in the top three ahead of next month’s season finale in San Francisco.

“I do think it’s a little unfair that New Zealand got to sail. I see the reason why — they had to recommission the boat after the lightning strike and check things were working — but at the same time, Canada put a new boat on the water [in Sydney] and they never got time to commission a brand new boat that’s never been tested,” Slingsby said.

“I felt that it wasn’t really fair to the other teams. But it’s all above our pay grade, those decisions, and we’ve just got to roll with it.”

With their sights firmly set on the grand final in San Francisco next month, where one of the teams will walk away with the US$1 million prize, Slingsby indicated his team could be looking to be strategic, hinting at the potential of alliances with other teams.