Australian SailGP team suffer major damage while Black Foils miss podium

By Christopher Reive

Heading into the final fleet race of SailGP’s San Francisco regatta on Monday morning, New Zealand’s Black Foils needed everything to go their way.

After slow starts had cost them on day one of the event, the first race on day two followed suit and left them 11 points outside of the podium positions.

They finished the regatta in strong form, with a third and a first in the final two fleet races, but left watching the event final from the sidelines, finishing in fifth place.

It ended up that the Black Foils were two points off being afforded a spot in the podium race, after a disastrous moment for the Australians in the final fleet race.

As they approached the starting line, the wingsail of their F50 foiling catamaran collapsed on top of the Australian team, sending them into salvage mode and ruling them out of the event.

“It’s a bit of shock, obviously. A very scary situation,” Australian driver Tom Slingsby said on the broadcast.

“We’re all unharmed and we’re all okay but when something like that happens all you think about is ‘is everyone going to get through this?’

“Fortunately, we’re all safe, that’s the first priority. Now we’ve just got to try and save the boat as best we can.”

It was a similar scene to when the Black Foils had their wing collapse on them after day one of sailing at last season’s event in France, in September 2023.

In that instance, the Kiwis had to miss the following event as their equipment could not be repaired in time. However, with more than a month before SailGP’s next event now - with the league’s debut in Brazil in early May - the Australians will be hopeful of being back on the water for that regatta.

Even without finishing the final fleet race, the Australians were third after the seven races, with their spot in the podium battle filled by fourth-placed France.

In the end, it was the Spanish team - who won the season four finale at the same venue - again showing their ability to lift in San Francisco, coming from behind to top NorthStar Canada and France in the podium race.

For the Black Foils, it continued to frustrating history in the City by the Bay.

They have now competed at four SailGP regattas at the venue, finishing the fleet racing element outside of the top three each time. This year was the first time San Francisco didn’t double as the season finale, but perhaps might be something that works in the Kiwis' favour later in the season.

However, there is work for the Black Foils to do before they can think about the season finale - now in Abu Dhabi in November.

After five of the 13 events on the calendar this season, the Black Foils sit fourth in the standings - though still just one point outside of the top three.

After San Francisco, Australia leads the way with 39 points, from Great Britain on 38 and Spain on 36.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission