SailGP has expanded the fleet to 12 boats for the upcoming season. Photo: SailGP
The Black Foils will be on the start line for the biggest SailGP season yet amid continued negotiations over the team's financing.
In an expanded 12-boat season, three boats are still funded by the league, while the rest are independently financed.
New Zealand and defending champions Spain will need to find private funding or risk dropping out of the competition for future editions.
Black Foils co-owner and driver Peter Burling said they were close to getting a funding deal over the line.
"I think at some stage this season you're going to have to be independently funded to continue to perform at the right end of this league. It's getting harder and harder to make sure you retain the talent in your team ... when you look at any sporting team there is always ways you can improve your performance and this is just one of them."
The fifth season of SailGP begins on Saturday in Dubai, with 11 boats contesting the first event. France will sit out the season opener while they wait for a new F50 boat to be built, but will be in Auckland in January for the second of 14 events.
Burling said the inclusion of two new boats had come earlier than he thought it would and he expected more growth to come.
In the off-season, several sailors switched teams as the nationality rules loosened and the new boats - Italy and Brazil - entered.
The Black Foils' former flight controller Andy Maloney moved to Brazil's boat and will be replaced by young New Zealand sailor Leo Takahashi, who was with Japan for the first two seasons of racing and with the United States last season.
Two-time Olympian Sam Meech joined the Black Foils' coaching staff.
Burling said Takahashi had been working hard to get up to speed with his new crew.
"It's definitely a tough ask to chuck someone in the deep end with pretty limited training in these boats but the one nice thing with Dubai is it's relatively flat water, relatively warm water, so it's one of the slightly easier venues in some ways. It's also tough because it's generally on the lighter end of the spectrum [for wind], but it's going to be great to see how he fits in this weekend."
The SailGP F50 catamaran fleet in action in Bermuda Sail Grand Prix in Bermuda. 2024. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
More boats on the start line would also pose different challenges this season.
"If you get behind the turbulent breeze off the boats makes it really hard to get back to the front so it will mean the start is even more critical and you'll have to sail at the best of your abilities around the race track. I'm sure it will be one bad race and it will be hard to get into the final so you have to make sure you put your best foot forward every time."
Burling said despite having limited time in their own boat ahead of the Dubai racing due to scheduled maintenance, they wanted to be on the start line for the first event of the season.
"For us it was really important to be here for this first event with the slight change in line-up and just make sure we could set a good benchmark, and then have a whole heap of things to review leading into the Auckland event which we're incredibly excited about."
Points will be only be awarded to teams who finish first through 10th in qualifying fleet races and the overall event results.
"It probably means it's actually going to be closer because you get capped at how bad the points situation you can get is.
"It's always hard to predict exactly how these things are going to play out but one thing you know is you're going to have to get some good races on the board to get through to the final and that's exactly what we're trying to do this weekend.
"We're trying to get off to a good start and we feel like we've planned and built up really well, and in saying that you've got to go out and execute and either way we're going to learn a whole heap from this weekend."
This season the athletes can win more prize money with the league planning to significantly increase the overall money up for grabs across the season, which totalled US$7 million last season (NZ$11.9m) - the largest amount on offer in the sport.
The Dubai Sail Grand Prix races will be on Saturday and Sunday night before SailGP returns to New Zealand in January.
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