New Zealand claimed its 2nd win at Rockwool Denmark Sail Grand Prix

New Zealand has claimed its second win in a row after a near-perfect performance at the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix saw the team triumph in all four races.

Driver Pete Burling delivered a starting masterclass against competitors, soaring into the Final with a hat-trick of fleet race victories and trouncing Quentin Delapierre’s France and home favorites Denmark with a 25 second lead over the finish line.

It was fast and furious racing, with all three boats picking up a 100% fly time throughout the Final race.

The win marks New Zealand’s second consecutive victory, after triumphing at the Great Britain Final Sail Grand Prix in Plymouth last month.

Speaking about the win, Burling said ‘good opportunities’ at the start of the race resulted in ‘all the time and space in the world’.

He pointed to the team’s exemplary starts as a key contributing factor to the team's dominance. “The race is easy when you’re leading at mark one,” he said, adding that it was ‘amazing to see the team come together and win four races in a row’.

The Final marked the second consecutive podium finish for Nicolai Sehested’s Denmark, which finished third behind France, and Quentin Delapierre's first podium finish since taking over as driver.

It was also the first time in six events when Tom Slingsby’s Australia failed to make a Final. The team missed out on a place and finished with a 5-3-4 fleet racing record.

It was an eventful weekend, with Ben Ainslie's Great Britain unable to race after suffering significant damage in practice racing. The first day of racing was also called off due to lack of wind, resulting in a compressed four-race format on the second day, which resulted in high-risk, competitive racing between the teams.

For France driver Delapierre it was a debut appearance in an event final, with his team showing good form ahead of its home event at the France Sail Grand Prix in Saint-Tropez next month. Delapierre said: “It’s an amazing feeling to make this first final for me to be honest, the team worked really hard to get to this point where we are all on the same page together and we are really happy. We are ready to keep this momentum going for the rest of the season now.”
It was a second event final in a row for Sehested’s Denmark SailGP Team presented by ROCKWOOL, and it delighted the home fans with a consistent day of racing to remain in with a chance of the Grand Prix victory right up until the day’s final moments. The home team for this event now sits in third place in the overall championship standings.

Sehested said: “I feel pretty good about this event, the fact we made the podium race again, we are only going to get better. We’ll look at this final, and learn and keep improving. We have had this great confidence around our team for a long time now and it’s finally really getting there for us.”
Earlier in the day, Australian team triumphed with Australian-born Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary on board in a Danish Royal Race against His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik on board the Denmark F50. The Crown Prince was also on hand to present the winner’s trophy to Burling. Among the other boats competing this weekend the Jimmy Spithill-led United States team produced a much improved performance from recent events to finish in fifth place, while in contrast the early season good form of Phil Robertson’s Canada continued its recent downward trend, as it finished in sixth place. Switzerland, featuring co-driver Nathan Outteridge in his event debut for the team, and Jordi Xammar’s Spain rounded out the final placings.

The European leg of the championship continues in Saint-Tropez for the France Sail Grand Prix, September 10-11.