Ten days of intensive training had been planned for the German SailGP team to prepare for its second season. After just two days on the water, however, this plan had to be cancelled.
The reason for this is a dramatic incident during a session of the newly formed Brazilian team. A Video shows how the wing rig of the F50 catamaran collapsed when steering into a gybe. As the 50-foot foiler was used by all four teams training in Bermuda, Denmark and the USA in addition to Germany and Brazil, this also ended the measure for the other racing teams.
Wing rig collapses - new team in misfortune
The Germany SailGP team had only travelled to Bermuda last Friday, but on Monday there was a devastating accident. "The Brazilians were unlucky: the wing unfortunately broke during one of their training sessions. It is still unclear how this could have happened. The available data is still being analysed," explained Erik Heil. According to initial findings, however, it was not the fault of the six sailors on board from the Brazilian team.
"Fortunately, everyone is fine, and that's the most important thing," said helmswoman Martine Grael after the incident. Nevertheless, the two-time Olympic gold medallist is very pleased with the progress she has made, reporting on her first experiences on the foiling catamaran. "We are looking forward to getting back into full preparation as soon as possible."
No further training opportunities before the SailGP season opener in Dubai
However, at least on the water, this will probably only be possible again in the immediate run-up to the first event of the new season. This starts on 23 November 2024 in Dubai. As things stand, there will be no further opportunity for training before then. This means that the South American league newcomers are only slightly ahead of the German team in their debut season. The crew led by helmsman Erik Heil only trained on their F50 for the first time a few days before the start of the season a year ago.
This is precisely why the Germans, as well as the similarly inexperienced teams Denmark and especially the USA, were also given the opportunity for more time on the water. "Unfortunately, we didn't have as much time on the new T-Foils as we would have liked. Nevertheless, we were able to gather some impressions and it was still a valuable period of time for us, which we utilised," says Erik Heil with regard to the undesirably short training block in Bermuda.
The new T-profiles introduced for the coming season are intended to significantly improve the performance and control of the F50, but require a change in the skippers. Previously, only L-profiles were used.
SailGP: Another wing breakage after incident a year ago
The last time such a rig was lost was a year ago. At that time, however, it was during the event in Saint Tropez. Those affected were Peter Burling's New Zealanders, the absolute dominators of the previous season. The wing also collapsed during the journey into the harbour due to a technical failure. "The safety of everyone involved in SailGP is our top priority and we are investigating the incident to determine the cause," the organisers of the high-speed racing series announced today.
