Following on from yesterday’s racing in the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix – Sydney, a severe weather system passed through while the Canada SailGP Team’s F50 catamaran was craning out. Thankfully, no one on the team was seriously injured.
Given the extensive damage to several wings and the team’s F50, racing for today (Sunday) has been cancelled.
“As a team, we have really come together. We are very thankful that everyone is ok. It was a serious situation trying to get the wing out before the storm arrived. Everyone on our team was involved.
"Unfortunately, it came at a time which wasn’t ideal and we had to scramble. I was impressed by the amount of people who came to help, including members from other teams and of course, the SailGP Tech Team. The situation escalated quickly. It was some of the most wind I have ever seen in my life,” said Phil Robertson, Driver of the Canada SailGP Team.
The storm wreaked havoc in parts of the city and left 60,000 people without power.
The team has been onsite all day evaluating the damage to the new boat, which was christened just two days earlier. Working closely with SailGP to deal with this unprecedented occurrence, the team will assess the impact this incident will have on the team going forward.
With three race wins yesterday, the France SailGP Team took the win for this event, while the Canada SailGP Team finished seventh overall.
