SailGP: New Zealand SailGP team to have boat back on the water in time for Christchurch event

The New Zealand SailGP team will be back on their original boat in Christchurch. Photo: Bob Martin/SailGP

The New Zealand SailGP team will have their boat back on the water in time for the Christchurch leg of the series this month after a lightning strike put it out of action.

The F50 foiling catamaran, named Amokura, was struck by lightning after the Kiwi team won the event in Singapore in January. While there was little cosmetic damage, the strike did plenty of damage to the electronics and hydraulics which left the boat unable to sail in Sydney last month.

Instead, Amokura has been at the SailGP Technologies base in Warkworth for repairs, and the Kiwi crew borrowed the spare boat of the fleet for the Sydney regatta - which was ultimately cut short by a freak weather event.

With the Christchurch event set to take place on March 18 and 19, Amokura has now been cleared to return to action. The boat will arrive in Lyttleton on Monday, where the SailGP Tech Team will finalise the fit-out and ensure all systems are working properly in advance of race weekend.

“It’s super exciting for us to know we will be back on Amokura for our first home event,” New Zealand SailGP team wing trimmer Blair Tuke said.

“There was a massive effort by many to get the boat we used in Sydney ready to race, but to have Amokura, the F50 we’ve sailed on throughout our journey with SailGP, is something the whole team is looking forward to.”

The news will be music to the ears of not just the New Zealand team, but the Canadian team as well.

While wingsails across the fleet were damaged in the Sydney weather event, the Canadians’ boat was the only vessel to sustain damage. They had been sailing on the spare boat all season while their new boat was being completed and Sydney was their first event on the new boat - which allowed the Kiwis to sail on the spare.

Should their new boat not be fixed in time for Christchurch, they should have the option to return to the spare vessel of the fleet to ensure a complete nine-boat fleet for the event.

The Christchurch regatta shapes up as an important event in the context of the season. It is the penultimate stop of the season, with just the grand final in San Francisco in May following it.

A good result in Christchurch will go a long way in terms of qualifying for the $1m three-boat shootout at the end of the San Francisco event which will determine the season winner.

As it stands, two-time defending champions Australia lead the fleet with 76 points. New Zealand are second with 64, while France (63), Great Britain (61), Denmark (57) and USA (52) will all back their chances of breaking into the top three by the end of the season.