SailGP has avoided having to delay its debut event in New Zealand next month after an extreme weather event caused damage to the fleet in Sydney last weekend.
The nine-team global foiling league will descend on Christchurch for the penultimate leg of its third season on March 18 and 19,however, as it stands it is expected just eight boats will be able to make the starting line.
While most of the damage done when the weather took a turn at the Sydney tech base was to the wing sails of the teams, the Canadian team’s F50 foiling catamaran sustained significant damage and was expected to need to be shipped to SailGP Technologies in Warkworth for repairs.
It was a blow for the Canadian team, who are led by Kiwi driver Phil Robertson and were sailing in their first event on their newly launched F50 after waiting the whole season to get their hands on it; sailing on Team Japan’s old boat for the first eight events of the season.
That old boat was being sailed by the New Zealand SailGP Team in Sydney, as their vessel, Amokura, was being repaired in Warkworth following a lightning strike in Singapore. The tech crew will be doing everything in their abilities to get at least one of the boats ready for next month’s regatta so all teams can make the starting line. Should Amokura be ready to race in Christchurch, the Canadian team could find themselves back on the spare boat of the fleet while their new F50, Spirit, undergoes repairs.
Wing sails across the fleet were damaged in Sydney. Photo / SailGP
The damaged wings are currently en route to Lyttelton, where they will undergo full review and repair by the SailGP tech team upon arrival, and the organisation would be providing further updates on their progress on that front when necessary.
It was a frightening scene at the tech base in Sydney that saw the damage to the fleet. After completing the day’s three scheduled races, the boats were back at the tech site being lifted out of the water to be stored away for the night. New Zealand’s vessel had just been lifted out, with the Canadian and Australian boats in the process of getting off the water when a massive gust hit the tech site. The Canadian’s wing sail was being lifted by a crane at the moment it hit, and videos showed it being thrown around and torn apart by the wind as people around scurried away to safety.
Speaking to the Herald earlier this week, New Zealand wing trimmer Blair Tuke said it was a scary situation, but expected the Christchurch leg would not be dramatically impacted by it.
“Now we’re heading back to old Aotearoa, it’s really good for us because all the resources of SailGP Technology can be called upon,” Tuke said. “The travelling tech team from SailGP Technologies can go there and some will go straight to Christchurch and do repairs.”
