New Zealand’s SailGP team will finally race again next month, ending an enforced absence that stretched across most of the season after a violent crash on home water in February.
The Black Foils have confirmed they will return at the Halifax event in Canada on 20 and 21 June, four months after a collision with DS Automobiles Team France brought their season to a sudden and frightening halt on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour. The return was reported by RNZ and 1News, and marks the first time the New Zealand boat has lined up to race since that day in front of a home crowd.
The crash itself was one of the worst seen in the foiling era of the sport. During the opening leg of race three at the New Zealand Sail Grand Prix in February, the Black Foils and the French boat came together at speed in a gust gusting close to 90 kilometres an hour, wrecking both F50 catamarans and forcing racing to be abandoned for the day. These boats can exceed 100 kilometres an hour when they are flying, and the impact tore the New Zealand hull apart and sent shock waves through the entire SailGP fleet.
The human cost was the part that lingered. Black Foils grinder Louis Sinclair suffered compound fractures to both legs and needed surgery, an injury serious enough to rule him out for the rest of the campaign. French strategist Manon Audinet was taken to hospital with abdominal injuries. That two sailors from a sport built around precision and control could be hurt so badly underlined just how much force is now involved when these crews race this close together.
Speaking after the crash, Black Foils co-chief executive and wing trimmer Blair Tuke did not hide how hard it had hit the team. He told RNZ that the incident was obviously a very traumatic one, not only for the Black Foils but also the French boat and everyone around it. Co-chief executive and driver Peter Burling, one of the most decorated sailors this country has produced, said Sinclair had been through surgery and had a really good outcome, with his right leg pinned so he could weight-bear again.
Repairing the damage was never going to be quick. The hull the Black Foils had been racing was beyond saving, and SailGP Technologies had to build the team an entirely new F50 at the league’s base in England before they could think about returning to the start line. Salvageable parts from the wrecked New Zealand boat were used to help repair the French F50, while the new boat was readied for the Kiwi crew.
While that work went on, the team made the difficult call to sit out event after event. The Black Foils missed the Rio de Janeiro round and then watched on as the championship rolled through Bermuda and New York. With Sinclair still recovering, strategist Liv Mackay spent time on loan with the French team so she could keep racing, an arrangement Tuke said the Black Foils fully supported because it gave her valuable time on the water.
For the comeback, the team has brought in experienced SailGP sailor Stewart Dodson to fill Sinclair’s seat for the remainder of the season. Slotting a new crew member into a boat that demands split second timing and complete trust between team mates is no small thing, and the Halifax regatta will be the first real test of how quickly that combination can gel under racing pressure.
The missed events have come at a heavy cost on the leaderboard. The Black Foils sit at the foot of the 13 team Rolex SailGP Championship with just 2 points, having completed only a handful of races before their season was interrupted. With seven events still left on the calendar, the team retains a mathematical chance of reaching the season grand final, but they will need a strong run from Halifax onwards to climb back into contention. The full standings are tracked on the official SailGP championship page.
The mood inside the camp, though, is one of relief and excitement rather than regret. Burling said the team could not be more excited to be back racing again and that it had been fantastic to see the progress made on the new boat. Tuke said it had not been an easy time but the team was proud of how it had stuck together through the period, a sentiment that says plenty about a group that has had to rebuild both a boat and its confidence.
Halifax will be a fresh challenge in its own right. The Nova Scotia venue is known for tricky, shifting conditions, and the Black Foils will arrive with limited recent racing in their legs against rivals who have stayed sharp through the European and North American legs. Australia have led the way this season, with Great Britain, Spain and the United States all racing strongly, so the New Zealand crew will need to find their rhythm quickly.
Beyond the results, the simple fact of the Black Foils being back on the start line carries weight. SailGP is a young, fast, sometimes brutal sport, and the Auckland crash was a reminder of the risks the sailors accept every time they clip in. Seeing a New Zealand boat racing again, with a new hull, a new crew member and a driver determined to prove the team belongs at the top, is the kind of comeback that tends to bring fans back on side. For Sinclair, watching his team mates return will be bittersweet, and his recovery remains the most important story still playing out in the background.
Will you be following the Black Foils when they return to the water in Halifax, and do you think they can still challenge for the title this season? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job π
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