New Zealand SailGP Team co-helmed by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. Photo: Bob Martin for SailGP
New Zealand has fallen short in the Sail GP season three grand final in San Francisco this morning.
Australia claimed its third consecutive title and the million dollars as they pipped the kiwis by just six seconds.
Peter Burling and the New Zealand team got off to a slow start before sailing into second on the fourth leg and make a frantic dash for the Aussies on the last stretch.
Great Britain finished 26 seconds back in third.
Australia skipper Tom Slingsby admits he though they may have thrown things away late in the race when his crew fell off the foils.
"We had it the whole way, This could be the biggest choke of all time here but fortunately, we were able to get across the line."
Peter Burling said the crew was "gutted" with the final result but was proud of his team's efforts across an incredible season with SailGP.
"It was so close and absolutely gutted we couldn't get the job done in the end, but I'm feeling incredibly proud of the team and how far we've come."
New Zealand finished sixth and seventh in the first two fleet races of the day, securing the points needed to compete in the final alongside Australia and Emirates Great Britain, who were first and second in the weekend standings, respectively.
"We definitely battled hard, right in the middle of the pack for most of this weekend. It's been one of those events where we feel like we've been sailing the boat well but not a lot has rolled in our favour. In the end, we did a good job consolidating things to get through to the final, and putting together our best race when it mattered the most"
Wing trimmer Blair Tuke said they had a good start to the final race and were neck and neck with the Australians heading into mark one.
"From there, we fell a bit further behind but the team stuck together, stayed strong and focused to get incredibly close at the finish."
Burling said it took a huge effort for the team to get back in contention near the end.
"You've gotta hand it to the Aussies. Particularly in San Fran, they tend to do well and really excel on the 24-metre wing and high-speed boards. They've been sailing great all weekend."
Season four kicks off in in Chicago in June.
