The Black Foils’ F50 has arrived in New Zealand, kickstarting the second phase of major repair work required to get the team on the water for their home event in just over a week.
The logistics alone have been formidable, with major components built, transported and reunited across continents in a 10-day period.
That pace has been driven by a remarkable effort by SailGP Technologies, SailGP’s innovation and technology arm based in Southampton UK, who worked round the clock to build a new section which was then flown out to Auckland to await the arrival of the damaged Kiwi F50, which was shipped from Perth, Australia.
“We’ve always been very confident we’d be on the water here,” Peter Burling said. “SailGP Technologies and the Tech Team as a whole do an amazing job keeping all the boats in one piece.”
“That confidence is growing. We saw the boat arrive and get shipped out to C-Tech where they will be putting the new piece on. The stern is already here, it arrived a few days ago.”
“It’s cool to see it all happening,” Burling added. “There have obviously been some physical complications in getting all the parts to New Zealand on time, so thankfully that part has all gone well. I’m sure the team will do an awesome job finishing it off.”
Missing two full days of racing in the Perth Grand Prix has already come at a points cost – but Burling said he’s confident his team can hit the ground running in Auckland.
“We’re pretty confident we will be on the water for the training day on Friday [13 Feb]. If you don’t make those days it’s a huge disadvantage. If you have to go into race one cold it would make for a pretty tough weekend.”
The ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland takes place on 14 and 15 February 2026.
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