Sailors look to right ‘ugly’ scorecard
Coach Ray Davies makes no excuses for his underachieving New Zealand SailGP team as they continue their search for a podium debut in Plymouth this weekend.
Davies uses words like mediocre and ugly as he works through the frustrations being endured by this talent-stacked team.
After 10 events in the foiling 50-foot catamarans, New Zealand have yet to qualify for a regatta final. Even race wins have been as rare as a dry day in the Kiwi winter – just five in 50 starts.
The reviews have been constant and thorough, and Davies, now into his fourth regatta with the team, admits ‘‘the blowtorch’’ has been applied to try to find the sort of consistency expected from a crew overflowing with America’s Cup, Olympic, and world champions.
Davies revealed the Kiwis had significantly tweaked their approach in this second season. While the big results were still elusive, he felt gains had been made and the puzzle was coming together.
‘‘We’ve completely changed how we sail the boat. We’ve worked through that and put that behind us now. We are a lot more similar to how the other teams have been setting up their boats,’’ Davies said of competing in a one-design class where a winning edge can be miniscule.
‘‘That was a good change. We sort of persevered for too long early on with the way we were sailing the boat. We figured out some speed issues, and now it’s about sailing analyse how decisions are being made.
‘‘We do a lot of stuff really well, but we have had a few unforced errors … things catching the team out by surprise with not everyone on the same page at times.’’
Davies won’t strangle the intuitive brilliance that sets stars like Peter Burling and Blair Tuke apart, but feels there also needs to be some order.
‘‘You still have to allow those opportunities where you have to make a quick decision and thread the eye of the needle and pull off some tough moves, but you also have to have structure as well.’’ That will be a focus in the starting zone. ‘‘Our starting has also been inconsistent, so we’re putting a bit more discipline into our preparation and structure of our pre-race routines.
‘‘Our speed is fine, our manoeuvres are fine, but we have these couple of other pieces in the puzzle to work on and we should be able to string it together then.’’
Davies insisted the team weren’t getting down; instead they were collectively and rigorously looking at where they could improve.
‘‘We’ve definitely got a team of champions.’’
But they can’t ignore their recent past and Davies admits there’s nowhere to hide now.
‘‘Yes, you look back and wow, it is incredible they haven’t made a final, and it’s a pretty ugly scorecard from that sense.
New Zealand, lying fifth in the nine-boat fleet, need to make a move as Australia, Canada and Great Britain open a bit of a gap on the points table with the top three teams overall qualifying for the $US1m winnertakes-all season finale.