The dramatic first day at last month’s Australia SailGP was plagued by technical issues, near capsizes, messy manoeuvres and even an Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team crew member falling overboard.

Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team helmed by Ben Ainslie, Switzerland SailGP Team helmed by Sebastien Schneiter and USA SailGP Team helmed by Jimmy Spithill race side by side towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge during a practice session ahead of the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, Australia. Image: Bob Martin for SailGP

However, it was a fantastic day for the French which saw Quentin Delapierre’s team picked up three consecutive race wins in the iconic Sydney Harbour.

The French rose to the challenge of 50km/h wind conditions to dominate, while Jimmy Spithill’s United States kept their San Francisco Grand Final hopes alive by picking up three second place positions.

Home favourites Australia, meanwhile, were plagued by technical issues, but still managed a respectable racing record of 3-4-6 to finish third after three fleet races. This, despite announcing they would not participate in the first race due to technical issues but then crossed the start line and actually finished third.

For the British team, though, there was drama of a different kind. Grinder Matt Gotrel fell through the fairing of the foiling F50 catamaran as the team approached the finish line.

The incident occurred in the first fleet race of the day, when Emirates GBR was chasing down race leaders Australia during the penultimate leg. The British F50 was traveling at close to 50 km/h when driver Ben Ainslie was forced to take evasive action to avoid Canada. The adjustment, which occurred during a jibe, caught Matt off guard as he crossed the boat. Matt stepped backwards to steady himself, inadvertently stepping on the forward fairing, which is not designed to bear weight.

Reflecting on the incident, Matt said he was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

“We do so many manoeuvres in these boats that you know when to leave the cockpit and when not to, and I was probably half a second either way. If I had gone earlier I would have made it and if I had gone later I would not have been there during the adjustment.”

Matt remained attached to the F50 via his safety line and the crew promptly stopped the boat. Once safely back on board, the team resumed racing which, Matt said, was his main concern.

“I knew the race was still going on, so I just wanted to make sure we got the boat to the finish line. Then we could address any issues after that.”

Despite the incident, which halted the British F50 for over a minute, the team managed to salvage a sixth place position. The team picked up a record of 6-6-2 across the first day.

After racing on day one at the Australia Sail Grand Prix, however, a major weather event occurred that resulted in significant damage including to at least one boat at the SailGP technical site. Six boats remained moored on the water and were relatively unscathed.

SailGP works closely with local experts and had “extensive in-house knowledge of the forecast. We had a window to crane the boats and, with the advice received, proceeded to do so.”

View of the aftermath of the storm at the technical area following racing on Race Day 1 of the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, Australia.
Bottom left: Tom Slingsby, CEO and driver of Australia SailGP Team, inspects the damage in the technical area.
Bottom right: View of the damaged wing of the Canada SailGP Team F50 catamaran.
Images: Ricardo Pinto for SailGP

However, the severe weather system had passed through while the Canada SailGP Team’s F50 catamaran, which was christened just two days earlier, was craning out, resulting in extensive damage.

Phil Robertson, driver of the Canada SailGP Team, said: “We are very thankful that everyone is ok. It was a serious situation trying to get the wing out before the storm arrived. Everyone on our team was involved. Unfortunately, it came at a time which wasn’t ideal and we had to scramble. I was impressed by the amount of people who came to help, including members from other teams and of course, the SailGP Tech Team. The situation escalated quickly. It was some of the most wind I have ever seen in my life.” 

No one was seriously injured, but as a result of the damage, SailGP cancelled racing for the second day of the Sydney event. At the time SailGP reported that “A full assessment of the damage is underway but it is likely some of the future SailGP events may also need to be delayed.”

According to SailGP rules, the three completed races were enough to constitute an event. This gave the win to France followed by the United States and Australia, with Great Britain in fourth.

The next planned SailGP event – the last one before the Grand Final – takes place over 18 – 19 March in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Image: Simon Bruty for SailGP

The international airline Emirates and the Great Britain SailGP Team have announced a three-year sponsorship deal in which Emirates becomes the sailing team’s first-ever Title Sponsor. In line with the UAE declaring 2023 as the Year of Sustainability’, the sponsorship will also open more opportunities for Emirates and the Great Britain SailGP Team to drive joint global environmental campaigns with the common goals of reducing emissions, consuming responsibly, and preserving biodiversity. Emirates and Great Britain SailGP Team will also support wider sustainability issues such as gender equality.

 

 

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