Major structural damage has ruled the Brazilian SailGP team out of the global foiling league’s debut event in Germany, after a day of carnage in practice racing.
The Brazilian F50 catamaran was left contorted after the front beam of the boat collapsed in a high-impact nosedive. SailGP reported thedamage could not be repaired in time to get them on the starting line when racing begins proper.
“The boat basically broke at the front beam, causing a pretty big accident, to be honest,” Brazilian team strategist Paul Goodison said.
“Luckily, we’re all safe. Everybody’s well, a few cuts and bruises but nothing major. At the end of the day we’re just a bit upset that we’re unable to race this weekend.”
The team was the second in the space of a minute to suffer structural damage to their boat, after the rudder snapped off the French team’s F50 in a similar nosedive.
The Brazilian SailGP team was ruled out of action in Germany after their boat was badly damaged. Photo / SailGP
French driver Quentin Delapierre was transported to hospital but cleared of injury, SailGP said.
“It was incredibly scary. No one wants to see these things,” Black Foils co-chief executive and wing trimmer Blair Tuke said.
“Luckily, the crews are all okay from what I understand. That’s obviously the main thing, but some investigations need to go into see what’s happened because, yes, major structural failures like this are worst-case scenario.
“This touches, of course, the two teams primarily on those boats, but when you sail all the same boats, it affects everyone in the fleet.”
The two boats were competing in the second race of the day, with the fleet splitting into two groups of six for practice.
The French SailGP team suffered damage to their F50 catamaran during practice in Sassnitz. Photo / SailGP
New Zealand’s Black Foils were in the first group, and Tuke said conditions had increased towards the top end of the range by the time the second group took to the course.
The incidents both happened as the teams were going around the first mark.
While the league was quick to rule the Brazilian team out of action for the weekend, there was a chance the damage to the French team’s vessel could be repaired in time for racing.
It’s the latest entry into a season of unfortunate events for the French team, who missed the first regatta of the season because of a lack of available boats and were unable to sail in Auckland because there was an issue with their new vessel.
In Portsmouth last month, the French team were forced to sit out the opening day of racing after their wingsail was damaged in practice.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
