As the spray settled on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour the split-fleet format used on Day 2 received a cautious welcome from the SailGP teams.
The reduced fleet of 11 competing teams split into two groups to compete in four split-fleet races, followed by a three-boat Final.
Smaller fleets with more space didn’t mean any less action, but it did provide more elbow-room on the tight course and reduce the chance of more collisions. Just a pity it took another major collision incident, and a crew member in hospital, to trigger the note of caution.
Two athletes – the Black Foils’ grinder Louis Sinclair and DS Team France’s strategist Manon Audinet – were hospitalized following the Saturday incident. Both are in a stable condition.
An expert team from SailGP Technologies is assessing the F50s to determine how and when they can be fixed.
The three-boat Final between Australia, Britain and Spain, saw the fastest racing of the day, with gusts of up to 24 knots (45 km/h) and the league’s top teams hitting speeds in excess of 48 knots (90 km/h).
In the fleet racing NorthStar hit a blistering 55 knots (102 km/h) at one point – just shy of SailGP’s all-time speed record of 56 knots (103.93 km/h) – underlining the intensity of the racing.
BONDS Flying Roos driver Tom Slingsby was obviously pleased to be back in winning mode, especially after claiming Grand Prix victory in Auckland after year-long wait for a Grand Prix win.
“It’s huge – it’s been amazing for us to come and win here,” Slingsby said. “It’s been a year since we last won an event, so it’s been a long time between drinks. We sailed really well and I’m just glad we were rewarded for it, because in those three-boat Finals anything can happen.”
“You basically couldn’t bear away the boat, so you had to start really high just to build any momentum,” Slingsby explained. “The start was literally about staying on our feet and out of trouble.”
Emirates GBR SailGP Team Driver Dylan Fletcher commented: “The split fleet was the right call after yesterday’s incident and with the forecast in mind. It was great to see what the boats were capable of in these top-end conditions, it was certainly sporty and demanding.”
He added a note of caution with regard to their performance in the Final . . . “The final was frustrating, to be honest. I decided to back off at the start and protect the asset in those conditions, and we missed our timing on the swing to the start line.”
“But in the back of my mind was the bigger picture, it’s a long season. We saw 30+knots (60 km/h) out there, and managing the risk was important.”
ROCKWOOL Racing SailGP Team driver Nicolai Sehested revealed that the Danish suffered technical issues with its starboard board sensor in the first race of Sunday, and was unable to repair the board ahead of the start, so was forced to start the race only to finish last, taking zero points.
On the split fleet concept, which saw the ROCKWOOL team grouped with Australia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and USA, the Danish driver added that . . . “The racing still felt really tough for us, in these conditions, even with the smaller fleet. I don’t really have an opinion on it yet, but will go away and watch it back – obviously safety has to come first.”
Giles Scott’s NorthStar Driver said, “Yeah, today was a much better day. In flat water everyone is pushing hard, and if you get a little bit too high on the ride, the foils can ventilate and skid. Something we all have to look at it was part of the crash incident.”
Red Bull Italy Driver Phil Robertson said: “We had a little spicy moment pre-race and I don’t know how we didn’t tip over. It’s really difficult to make improvements when you’re in survival mode every single race. We know we can be better and we’re looking forward to Sydney.”
A penalty for contact with a course mark in Race 1 dropped the Red Bull team to the bottom of the event standings and 10th on the season leaderboard.
Now, attention swings firmly to the KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix, on 28 February – 1 March.
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SailGP introduce split-fleet format for day two of ITM New Zealand Grand Prix
