Burling steers the Kiwis to victory over rival Aussies in SailGP Season 4 opener in Chicago

By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer

Peter Burling of Team New Zealand mastered tricky light winds on Lake Michigan to win a slow-speed drag race against rival Tom Slingsby and three-time defending champion Australia in the podium race of the opening regatta in Season 4 of tech titan Larry Ellison’s global league. The Kiwis took a favorable position at the start, had the best angle to the first mark and held on for victory in the Rolex United States Sail Grand Prix off Chicago’s Navy Pier. Phil Robertson steered Canada to third place on a day when the wind was so painfully light that the high-performance 50-foot catamarans weren’t able to foil.