A shocking high-speed collision between the New Zealand and French F50s on the first day of the SailGP Auckland regatta has forced event organisers to abandon racing after both boats were badly damaged and two Kiwi crew members were taken to hospital.
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The crash happened shortly after the start of the third race of the day. Peter Burling’s Black Foils crew lost control of their boat on the first reaching leg of the course when the boat flew too high and went into a sideways slide before rounding up in front of the oncoming DS France team.
This video starts just prior to the crash.
With the French travelling at close to 50 knots, helmsman Quentin Delapierre had only a split second to react as he tried to head up to minimise the impact. The bow of the leeward hull of the French boat rode over the windward hull of the New Zealand yacht just in front of the shrouds and daggerboard, scarily close to the front crew cockpit.
Safety teams were quickly in attendance and two sailors were taken ashore and transferred to hospital for assessment. Both were reported to be in a stable condition.
UPDATE: A statement from the Black Foils later confirmed that grinder louis Sinclair had broken both his legs in the crash.
“Sinclair is receiving treatment for compound fractures to both legs but is in a stable condition,” the statement said.
“Thank you for all of the messages of support since the incident. Special thank you to all of the medical staff involved in the response to the crash and subsequent treatment of all the athletes involved.”
The French team confirmed that strategist Manon Audinet was thrown forward into the boat's port steering wheel during the collision and was "being assessed for abdominal injuries caused by the impact"
“The entire DS Automobiles SailGP Team France has Manon Audinet and Louis Sinclair in their thoughts and stands fully alongside them during this time," a team statement said.
The race was stopped soon after the incident before the fleet was sent ashore sometime later...
I check-in with Tudor Team Alinghi’s director for technical and sailing, New Zealand America’s Cup veteran Dave Endean – the man in charge of making sure that in AC38 the Swiss syndicate improves on its somewhat lacklustre performance in the last Cup in Barcelona.
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