The SailGP Tech Team has been working overnight to repair Australia’s damaged F50 ahead of their bid for Championship glory in San Francisco this weekend.
A number of F50s suffered damage during Thursday’s training, but none as bad as Australia’s as Tom Slingsby’s team suffered a serious capsize which broke part of their wing clean off.
Thankfully none of the crew were hurt in the incident, and repair work started immediately upon their return to the Tech Base to ensure the F50 is in racing condition for the start of the Mubadala United States Sail Grand Prix on Saturday.
The Aussies currently top the Championship rankings and have already booked their place in the Grand Final, and they’ll want all the racing practice they can get before the title decider on Sunday.
It seems unlikely Slingsby and Co will be able to get out on the water during Friday’s practice - despite Tom’s plea to the Tech Team for a 20-minute test sail at the end of the day - with the repair process expected to continue well into Friday night.
And SailGP.com has been given an exclusive look at the repair process with Tech Team Director Brad Marsh welcoming us onto the Tech Base at Pier 96.
“We’re going to have a look at the damage to the Australia wing, from their capsize at the city front at the end of the training session,” Marsh tells SailGP.com.
“They wiped out the back half of their wing and all the flaps, and overnight the wing team have been working on repairing all the frames and flaps.
“There is a carbon fibre skeletal framework that the film goes over to make the wing shape that the wing trimmers are trimming.
“We can see all the tape and the broken pieces - there is one that is missing a leg - and we can see all the rejoins they are having to do.
“It’s basically putting Humpty Dumpty back together.”
