SailGP set for shake-up ahead of NZ return

By Christopher Reive

SailGP is set for a shake-up.

As the global foiling series readies for its Auckland debut on January 18-19, it is set to introduce two key changes that will impact racing.

The league will welcome the French team back onto the starting line in Auckland after the crew were forced to sit out the season opener in Dubai through a lack of available F50 foiling catamarans.

At the end of season four in July, SailGP was prepared to cut one of its incumbent teams because of that, as new teams Brazil and Italy were set to join the fray meaning it would have 12 teams but only 11 boats.

However, rather than cutting a team, SailGP purchased an AC50 foiling catamaran from America’s Cup syndicate Team New Zealand and have been converting it to fit SailGP specifications with the league contested on identical one-design boats.

That will see France, who were one of the teams at risk of being cut after season four, back on the starting line to create the largest fleet in SailGP history for its return to New Zealand.

The league will also be unveiling its new foil design, with T-Foils expected to replace the current L-Foils, named as such for the shape of their respective designs, on the vessels if conditions are right, with high-speed and light wind versions of the thinner T-Foils being developed.

Black Foils strategist Liv Mackay told the Herald it could be quite a different event than the past two years’ events in Lyttelton – particularly with 12 boats in the contest.

“It’s definitely a smaller area of water. There’s a lot of tide, which can, if it’s against the wind, make it quite choppy. The wind coming off all the different directions, the sea breeze direction either way will be quite difficult. It’s quite shifty and for that, with 12 boats, it definitely makes it full on,” Mackay said.

“We all know the harbour here is quite small. It’s very shifty, there’s obviously the Harbour Bridge, the whole city around which makes it amazing for fans but very complex as a sailor. There’s a lot of experience within our team racing here and I’m sure we’ll leverage off all of that, but it will definitely make for some exciting racing and I can guarantee that.”

The introduction of T-Foils has been an anticipated step for the league, with the new shape in development for some time and being tested following the season four grand final in San Francisco in July.

The Canadian SailGP Team, who were at the time helmed by Kiwi Phil Robertson, were tasked with putting the foils through their paces. The T-Foils lived up to their tag as a high-speed design, with the Canadian team reaching a top speed of 101.98km/h in 32km/h wind. Light wind T-Foils are also expected to be introduced by the league.

The new foils underwent further testing at an off-season training camp in Bermuda, with the American, Danish, Brazilian and German teams all involved.

After the trial, US driver Taylor Canfield said the new foils required the boats to be sailed differently. Black Foils flight controller Leo Takahashi said it was an exciting change as it put everyone in the same boat in terms of figuring out how to get the best out of the new developments.

“It’s just going to make the fleet even closer, which is really cool for the league,” Takahashi said.

“All the information is out there now and we’re going to just dive in and look at all the data and see what people are doing. That’s how we get prepared for it.”

The Black Foils come into Auckland at the top of the leaderboard after winning the season opener in Dubai – their second win at the event in as many seasons.

With the team undergoing some personnel changes during the off-season, driver Peter Burling said it was a great way to get the campaign underway.

“I don’t think any of us went into Dubai with massive expectations,” Burling said.

“The way we managed to continue to build throughout the weekend [and] put together our best performance for that last one was really special.

“We’re hoping to be able to continue to build on that here in Auckland.”

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