Black Foils team hoping that injured driver Peter Burling will be onboard for the Mubadala Abu Dhabi 2025 Season Grand Final after coming through a gentle practice session Friday.
Burling suffered a severe cut to his finger in training on Wednesday while trying to fix a daggerboard. After emergency hospital treatment he was cleared to rejoin the team Friday for a practice and media session with a guest onboard.
His appearance in the actual event will depend on how he comes through the Friday session, which was an almost windless session with almost no foiling for the 12 teams.
The Kiwi team are second on the overall season leaderboard behind Dylan Fletcher’s Emirates GBR and hold a two point advantage on Tom Slingsby’s third placed Australian team,
However knocking on the door are Spain’s fourth placed Los Gallos, just four point adrift of the leading trio.
Only the three top teams get to race in the winner-takes-all Grand Final Trophy, with its $2million payday, on Sunday to decide the event winner.
Diego Botin and Los Gallos have form, they were surprise winners last season, knocking out both the Aussies and the Black Foils in the Season 4 Grand Final to lift the trophy.
Having Burling back on board could be crucial for the Kiwis.
The SailGP Grand Prix 2025 Season Grand Final, takes place November 29/30, with racing from 2pm to 3.30pm local time (10am to 11.30am in the UK).
