Kiwi skipper hails Chinese crew after surprise podium finish

Not many pundits at the start of the year would have bet on China making the podium in the inaugural season of SailGP, but at the weekend grand final in Marseille, France, the team was elated to take third spot.

Skippered by New Zealander Phil Robertson, the team was created by SailGP to help Chinese talent become competitive in high-octane racing on state-of-the-art and highly technical foiling boats.

With a nation-versus-nation format, the rules stipulate that at least two of the five sailors must come from the country for which they race.

The Chinese crew had mixed results over the year, impressing at the inaugural event in Sydney where they finished fourth, followed by a disastrous crash in San Francisco where they broke their wing and finished last.

At the third event in New York, a fourth-place finish put China back in podium contention and the team's future potential was underlined by a third-place finish in Cowes, England - just a point behind runner-up Japan.

Heading into the Marseille grand final, the team was jostling with Britain for the final spot on the podium, and on the last day of competition was tied on points with the Brits.

With two races scheduled, it was all to play for, but due to a dying breeze, just one race, which was shortened at the penultimate mark, saw the Chinese team finish second - guaranteeing third spot on the podium.

Robertson, surrounded by his crew, was quietly jubilant: "We are pretty stoked. We came into the week with a goal of finishing third overall because we knew the Aussies and Japanese were untouchable and we have accomplished our goal.

"We have always known that we could perform at the level we did at this event here in Marseille, but we still have a long way to go. I don't think we are even close to scraping the surface on what we can pull off and what we can achieve. Finishing in third with plenty of potential is a great place to be."

The third-place finish in Marseille was particularly sweet for team manager Bruno Dubois, who said: "We have had a really mixed year following a great start to the season and then after the third event in New York, I thought if we could finish fifth or fourth it would have been fantastic.

"So to be third, it is really good for the team. It's a relief for me and I'm proud for the team.

"Our focus for 2020 is now to keep the momentum going, to keep developing the Chinese sailors and their skills and ultimately grow the Chinese presence onboard."

Robertson had a squad of seven sailors to draw from this season: Paul Campbell-James and Ed Powys, both wing trimmers from Britain; Thomas Le Breton of France and James Wierzbowski from Australia as flight controllers; and two grinders drawn from a pool of Liu Ming, Horace Chen Jinhao and Black Liu Xue, all from China.

Robertson heaped praise on his whole team, but in particular the Chinese members.

"We've had a really strong team this year - both the sailors on the water and the shore crew who have prepared our boat so well. This result is testament to how hard the whole team - sailors, shore crew, the performance team and the coaches - have worked.

"The biggest challenge we have had has been to upskill our Chinese sailors. They have come off the Volvo Ocean Race, which is a very different mentality. Big long legs for months on end and not many maneuvers," said the skipper.

"In SailGP, we are doing four or five maneuvers in the space of two minutes on an upwind leg and they have never been foiling before so a massive learning experience for them.

"Horace, Black and Liu have done a fantastic job to come from quite small guys to putting on a lot of muscle through the year to be powerful enough, and their timing, skill set and techniques are all getting a lot better.

"They are fantastic guys with awesome attitudes and it has been great to work with them."