Peter Burling has secured an unfortunate place in SailGP history.
The Black Foils driver has become the first SailGP athlete to receive demerit points on his licence, following his event-ending crash with the Swiss in Perth.
As SailGP continues to develop, the global foiling league has implemented a licencing system similar to the super licence requirements in Formula One. For an athlete to be cleared to compete in a particular position on an F50 on race day, they have to meet certain requirements in that role.
And on that licence, athletes can now get demerit points if they’re found to be at fault in collisions – as Burling was in the incident with the Swiss.
“So, yeah, first driver in SailGP to get some demerit points on my licence. I’m sure I’ll not be the last, but I think it’s really cool to see SailGP kind of taking that step of evolution and making sure that they put experienced people in the boats and that people have had relevant training and held to a level of accountability when they’re out there racing,” he told the Herald.
“I think I’ve got three. Please don’t quiz me on how many I’m allowed for the season.”
Burling said while the athlete found at fault for a crash could receive demerit points, there were other more discretionary ways those points could accumulate over the season. Athletes in all positions on the boats could be hit with demerit points, not just the drivers.
Once an athlete hits 15 demerit points, they face suspension.
“It’ll be interesting to see how some of those more discretional parts play out for close calls or things that they’ve deemed to be not correct. But that’s all part of the evolution of SailGP and I think it’s a really cool step to see the league maturing and doing that.”
In terms of the licencing process, Kiwi grinder Stewart Dodson, who competes in SailGP with Switzerland, told the Herald that sailors would be encouraged to get as many licences as possible in order to cover when teammates are unavailable. He said that process included spending time in the simulator, time on the water and a theoretical exam.
Burling suggested every team would have an idea of how they would want to cover certain roles if an athlete is unavailable.
It’s a move that comes as the league works to build on the depth of talent in their league. Last year in Auckland, Canadian flight controller Billy Gooderham was injured in warm-ups for the second day of racing and could not compete. Because they didn’t have a back-up flight controller available, the team did not take part in the day.
“Everyone’s got a way within their team that they’re planning on covering situations if someone goes down. I would say that every team right now would be a long way behind their frontline configuration if they lose key members of that group, but they would still be able to get round the course and put on a reasonably good show,” Burling said.
“For us, it’s been things we’re working through – how do you make sure you’ve got other people in your group that have got licences to cover the different roles and can step in if needed at the last minute.
“You see the injury list through Perth with Goobs [Australian wing trimmer Iain Jensen] having a pretty serious injury to his knee ... and the scary one’s also the head knocks. We’ve seen a few where, like in Auckland last year, the Canadian flight controller got a reasonably good head knock and then they didn’t have someone that they were comfortable to sail with in those configurations in that role.
“It’s something that the water’s pretty powerful, so you’ve definitely got to be making sure you’re looking after the crew and the asset.”
The Black Foils will be back on the water for the Auckland event, after a rapid repair job of the damage to their hull over the month between the season opener in Perth and the regatta on the Waitematā Harbour.
They were one of a few teams allowed time on the water on Friday morning, with practice racing cancelled due to the threat of thunderstorms.
“There’s a set run sheet of things we have to do, and then we’ll get the tech team on board just to have a visual inspection of a lot of the areas. And then beyond that we’ve actually got to try and get the thing up to max load and put it through its paces that way,” he said.
“A lot of the loads, it’s very hard to emulate on the shed. I mean, you can set up big static test stands, but for this case, it’s not worth it with the risk only being pretty isolated to one portion of the boat. So, yeah, for us it’s really about going out there and trying to get the load into the boat, making sure the hydraulics, electronics, everything’s working and then we’ll go from there.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.