SailGP Swiss team grinder Stewart Dodson will join the Black Foils as cover for injured grinder Louis Sinclair for the remainder of the 2026 Rolex SailGP Championship.
Dodson was previously a member of Spain’s Los Gallos including as part of their Season 4 Championship-winning campaign.
Sinclair continues to make a positive recovery from the injuries he suffered during the collision between the Black Foils and DS Automobiles Team France at February’s ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix.
Following the high-speed collision between the two F50s, Sinclair suffered compound fractures to both legs in the crash.
Although Sinclair is expected to be able to return to top level sailing, possibly for the final events of the season, Black Foils head coach Matt Steven said bringing in Dodson was about making the team’s return to racing as smooth as possible.
Black Foils Co-CEO and wing trimmer Blair Tuke said Dodson joining the team represented another positive step in the Black Foils’ return to racing.
The team continues to work with SailGP on a return-to-racing plan. All remaining parts of the team’s F50 are now at SailGP Technologies and members of the team’s shore crew are in Southampton working alongside league staff.
SailGP CEO Russell Coutts said he expects the Kiwi team to return for the Canada Halifax Grand Prix, 21 – 22 June. “It won’t be easy for them to put those crashes behind them,” he said.
If they fail to make the Halifax event then Portsmouth UK event on 26–27 July, marking the start of the European leg will be the next possibility.
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