The sailing world learned something on Saturday night at the SailGP: If wind speeds or gusts reach 30 mph (48.28 km/h, 26.02 knots) in New York City, crane work must stop immediately. And they must not even begin if the National Weather Service predicts wind speeds that could reach or exceed the 30 mph threshold before potential craning can be completed.
SailGP in New York: not according to plan without a crane
In this field of tension, on the first of only two days of racing, the league battled not with sailors or boats, but with cranes to get their twelve F50 trailers into the water off Manhattan. challenging territory to bring it to the market. However, despite all SailGP efforts, this was initially only successful for the top three boats of the season so farAustralia's Bonds Flying Roos, Emirates GBR, Spain's Los Gallos. It was clear that there would be no official races on the first day of the Mubadala Sail Grand Prix in New York.
In order not to disappoint thousands of fans and the TV audience and still put on a show, the SailGP organisers scheduled three show races in powerful winds and strong gusts. However, the trio on the water was decimated again shortly before the first start when Tom Slingsby's Australians almost capsized and damaged their foil in the process. The two remaining teams then set off.
In the first duel, the Brits with the 24-metre wing made short work of the Spaniards in the crisp winds of between 16 and 20 knots, bringing a start-to-finish victory across the course. Whether the races would have ended without a break in the gusts and gybes if all twelve foilers had been on the course can at least be questioned in view of the highly challenging conditions. In the second Saturday race, Diego Botin, Flo Trittel and their Los Gallos turned the tables on Team Emirates GBR.
Gala and extra training only for the best of the season so far
Taylor Canfield and Team USA also came into play for the third race, their foiler finally making it into the Hudson River. However, the Americans were left with only third and last place in the triple race, while the Spaniards prevailed for the second time in a row against British Olympic champions Dylan Fletcher, Hannah Mills and their crew. For the SailGP Championship, the sporting achievement that all the other teams could only watch was nothing.
Only the teams that sailed on this unusual day will take the advantage of races already sailed on the Hudson River into Super Sunday. And the Spaniards take their fine 2:1 win against the reigning title holders. "Everyone else would have liked this extra training too," said co-commentator Felix van den Hövel on the ZDF live stream. The former grinder in the Germany SailGP team knew exactly how much Erik Kosegarten-Heil and his team would have given for this chance.
The most discussed question on this unusual SailGP day in New York: Couldn't the boats have been brought into the water the day before, because the fresh winds and the associated crane problems in New York were foreseeable?
Missed opportunity for Team Germany and the majority of the SailGP fleet
Erik Kosegarten-Heil said: "It's difficult to say whether the boats could have been craned in the day before. But there are quite a lot of currents here. They make it difficult to leave the boats in the water overnight. In the USA, they are generally a bit cautious when it comes to crane operations. And that's why it was cancelled afterwards. It is what it is."
Of course, it's all super, super bitter for us. Firstly, the missed sailing and training time on the boat to get better. And then, of course, it hurts all the fans and the people who are here for us on site." Linov Scheel
Erik Kosegarten-Heil was optimistic about the remaining chance for his team on Sunday in the Big Apple on Saturday afternoon: "Basically, it's good for us when it's difficult. In other words, when there are unstable winds and the race course has a current. That works in our favour. But there are three races tomorrow. We've seen what can happen in the fleet..."
I think everyone will be extremely close together. I think the last race will probably decide whether you're top three or behind the top eight." Erik Kosegarten-Heil
The difficult news: On Sunday, rather light winds are expected on the SailGP course in New York for the only three fleet races that will decide the final at the sixth event of the sixth SailGP season. "I'm excited and hope that we can get a good quality of racing in tomorrow," said Erik Kosegarten-Heil in New York.
Comeback of the Black Foils in Halifax
But there was also good news in New York: New Zealand's Black Foils will finally be back in action for the next event in Halifax on 20 and 21 June (first weekend of Kiel Week). The Kiwis' F50 was badly damaged in two accidents in Fremantle and Auckland. The damage from the first incident had been repaired in a tour de force so that the team could compete in Auckland. But there the serious crash with France's DS Automobiles team ended in a total loss for the New Zealanders.
The French foiler was repaired using a mixture of their own parts and the port hull of the Black Foils. The team around driver Quentin Delapierre "only" missed the SailGP event in Sydney, but competed in Rio in mid-April. The Kiwis, on the other hand, are only now returning in June and will receive their new boat in time for the Canada Summit. "We can hardly wait for our comeback. It's been a challenging few months," said Blair Tuke.
The ZDF live broadcast from the SailGP in New York will begin on Sunday, as was originally planned for Saturday, before more than an hour is added to the programme. the broadcast of the show races had to wait: at 9.30 p.m. German time. Click here for SailGP live streaming on the second channelwhere the link to the broadcast of race day two can be found before the starts. Commentary will once again be provided by Nils Kaben with co-commentator Felix van den Hövel.
REPLAY! Click here for the replay of the original live broadcast of day one at the SailGP in New York:
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
