Switzerland’s driver and the U.S.’s strategist have reacted to the decision not to launch their F50s on the second day of racing in Halifax after high winds limited the ability to launch all boats.
An adjusted format was adopted on the second day of racing in Halifax after high winds disrupted the craning schedule. The league made the decision to prioritize teams in order of event standings following the first day of racing, which meant the Swiss and American F50s were not launched. The event points for both teams were calculated based on the event standings - giving Switzerland two points and one point to the U.S.
Germany was launched late, which meant Erik Heil’s team missed the fourth fleet race but rejoined the fleet for the fifth.
Switzerland driver Nathan Outteridge labelled the decision ‘very unfair’.
“We’re all meant to be competing on equal terms here and to run a race when there’s only half the fleet out there or 7 boats doesn’t seem right,” he said.
He added that the league ‘need to look at how they resource themselves and the organization here’, adding ‘no-one is happy with this result, it effected two teams - three if you count the Germans as well - and hopefully SailGP can learn to be more prepared for the future.’
United States strategist and chief executive Mike Buckley meanwhile questioned the decision to prioritize teams according to their opening day performance.
“We need to get to bottom of it with the league as to why certain teams were prioritized and why certain teams weren’t - two private teams have their boats in the garages all day and and some league-owned teams were given the opportunity to go out there,” he said.
He added that it was ‘painful’ to watch racing from the shore. “We didn’t come here to do that - we came here to be out competing and through no fault of our own we weren’t out there.”
The refreshed season standings post-Halifax put the United States in 8th overall with 50 points and Switzerland in last with 28.
The F50 fleet will next meet for the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix on June 22-23.
