SailGP: Major crash puts Black Foils and France out of New Zealand Sail Grand Prix

The two teams were blasting down the first leg of the third race on Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour when the Kiwi F50 lost control and veered sharply in front of the French boat.

The fleet was travelling at around 90 km/h in breezy conditions when the DS Team France F50 smashed into the side of the Black Foils.

Both sustained major damage that will prevent them from taking part in tomorrow’s action.

Two athletes were transported to hospital for treatment and were said to be in a stable condition, while all other crew members were medically assessed and cleared.

SailGP’s race committee made the decision to abandon races three and four in light of the efforts to salvage the two stricken F50s.

“On the incident itself, I can’t really say anything,” a visibly shaken DS Team France driver Quentin Delapierre told reporters after making it back to shore. “Everything happened so quickly – it’s still super cloudy in my head and I haven’t reviewed the footage or spoken to the umpires. I think both teams are OK. I want to give my thoughts to the New Zealand team and also to my teammates – this was tough for everyone on both teams. I believe we’ll find some solutions to make sure we never see this kind of thing happen again.”

The collision is the second in as many events for the Black Foils, who were forced to sit out the season opener in Perth last month after their F50 was badly damaged in a crash with the Switzerland SailGP Team.

Strong, gusty winds greeted the SailGP teams as 13 took to the start line for the first time ever in front of a Race Stadium heaving with fans.

The BONDS Flying Roos – winners in Auckland last season – got off to a flying start with a dominant performance in the opening race to come home ahead of the Black Foils and DS Team France.

They followed it up with a fourth in the second race to go into day two in second overall, tied on points with DS Team France.

A tough day for Red Bull Italy saw them score a 12th and an 8th but they were docked four points after hitting a mark in the opening race, leaving them at the bottom of the table going into the second day.

Even stronger winds are forecast for Sunday, with racing brought forward from 4pm local time to 11.30am (10.30pm UTC on Saturday) to avoid the worst weather.

The last remaining tickets are available HERE – or you can find out how to watch from wherever you are in the world HERE.

Text and images courtesy of SailGP.com. Read the full release here.