SailGP

Black Foils SailGP Team to miss fifth 2026 event

New Zealand’s Black Foils Team continue to sit on the sidelines of the 2026 SailGP season.

The Kiwi SailGP team headed by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, will miss this weekends New York event, their fifth non-scoring event following retirement in the opening Perth event, and then a complete destruction of their F50 hull in the second event in Auckland.

Their new replacement F50 is nearing completion in the SailGP Technologies plant in the UK. It will then face a tight delivery window with an eight day sea delivery required for the three containers (incl mast), and then an initial assembly and work-up period for the team ahead of the Halifax, Canada, event over the 20 – 21 June.

The Canada Sail Grand Prix will be the team’s first action together since the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland, where the Black Foils were involved in a major collision with DS Automobiles Team France.

The enforced absence has left the Black Foils at the bottom of the 13-team Rolex SailGP Championship standings, but with seven events still remaining on the 2026 calendar, including Halifax, they remain mathematically in contention for a place in the season-ending Grand Final.

*Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup – Preliminary Regatta Sardinia Race Day 3, Match Race*

Meanwhile Black Foils Co-CEO and driver Peter Burling, who is also a member of the Luna Rossa 38th America’s Cup Team, completed a successful America’s Cup – Preliminary Regatta in Sardinia last weekend.

Sailing with the Luna Rossa Principle AC40 team of: Ruggero Tita, Umberto Molinris and Vittorio Bissaro, he won the the Final match race to claim overall victory at the first Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup – Preliminary Regatta Sardinia.

The second America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta will take place in Naples from 24 to 27 September 2026, slotting in just after the Geneva SailGP event (19-20 Sep) . . . a busy time for AC and SailGP crews.