Black Foils grinder Louis Sinclair has been discharged from hospital following the crash during the SailGP Auckland regatta on Saturday which left him with compound fractures in both legs.
The 34-year-old required surgery on his right leg after he was trapped in his compartment in the immediate aftermath of the team’s crash with France.
Sinclair was one of two sailors hospitalised after the crash, with French strategist Manon Audient was transported to hospital with concern around abdominal injuries after being violently thrown in her cockpit with enough force to break the steering wheel. She remains in Auckland City Hospital under medical observation as a precaution.
As the G2 grinder, the frontmost position on the vessel with his back to the racecourse, Sinclair was the closest to the impact zone when the French F50 collided with that of the Kiwis.
The Herald understands spare oxygen was used as the teams worked to free Sinclair, both for the grinder’s breathing and to maximise his comfort as he was pinned with both legs broken. Neither SailGP nor the Black Foils would comment on specific information around the response.
Speaking to media on Thursday morning, Black Foils co-chief executive and driver Peter Burling said Sinclair was able to communicate freely with the team and remained calm in the situation.
“We can only commend Louis on his demeanour through that time. It’s incredible to see someone in a situation like that remain so calm and be such an instrumental part of telling us what he was feeling, where the pressure was and actually getting those two boats apart,” Burling said.
“I think we can all learn a lot from Louis during this time and it’s pretty incredible to see the way he responded in the situation. But yeah, also incredibly proud of the rest of our team, the way everyone came together in a really tough situation and then also the French team as well.
“They were dealing with situations on board but definitely came straight to our aid. For me, it’s incredibly pleasing to see the way the team responded to an incredibly tough situation and then also the way the wider safety teams and rest of the SailGP support network came around us to get the athletes to a safe spot and into treatment very quickly and then also the boats back to shore safely as well.”
All SailGP athletes are equipped with a small air supply built into their lifejacket, which is said to have a maximum of two-and-a-half minutes’ worth of oxygen, depending on the individual and how they’re using it.
There are also oxygen canisters kept on the boat, while the SailGP safety team carry spare air. SailGP would not comment on the specifics of Sinclair’s situation for privacy reasons.
“We can confirm that in addition to the personal air supply carried by athletes, our on-water safety teams are equipped with backup oxygen provisions sufficient to last several hours, if required,” a statement from the league said.
Like the league, the Black Foils would not go into specific details about what went on on-board and the response time of the league’s safety teams.
However, co-chief executive and wing trimmer Blair Tuke praised all parties involved in the response.
“As you can appreciate, in a moment like this, the details of the incident itself, I don’t think’s appropriate to talk in detail to, and for us we’re still processing it, but it was pretty quick,” Tuke said of the response.
“Our team need to be commended and the French team because, ultimately, we’re the first responders as a unit there to that situation. So I can say for sure that the first response came from both teams and they all did an amazing job to handle the situation and then that was then bolstered by the SailGP safety team and the medical staff.”
A thorough review of the incident is ongoing.
In the meantime, the Black Foils will play a waiting game to see when they’re next on the starting line.
The left hull of their F50 was used to replace the damaged left hull of the French boat, with the French getting priority in the rebuild as the race officials deemed the Kiwis to be at fault in the incident.
Both teams will miss next week’s regatta in Sydney, with their next chance to race being in Rio de Janeiro in April.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.