France driver Quentin Delapierre has unpacked the team’s season-ending crash with ROCKWOOL DEN, which resulted in devastating penalty points and extensive damage.
The incident took place in the fourth fleet race as racing continued on the second day of San Francisco. After impressive 1-3-3 results on day one, France was level on points with Spain and gunning to replace Diego Botin’s team in the Grand Final.
The team was under pressure to overtake ROCKWOOL DEN but lost track of the team at the final turning mark. Despite being the keep clear boat, France crashed into the side of the Danish F50 and came close to capsizing.
The collision damaged one of the rudders and earned the team a devastating 12 point deduction from its event score and loss of 8 season points, making it impossible for them to proceed into the $2 million Grand Final.
Reflecting on the incident, driver Delapierre described it as 'an unbelievable error', adding, ‘sometimes you prefer to stay at home’.
Unpacking the race, he said France came out on top of a match race with Spain and made a ‘great comeback’ before the incident.
“In the last tack, I didn’t see the Danish,” he said. “We crashed into them and - that’s life.”
The penalty points received for the incident meant France, which entered San Francisco in 4th overall, finished Season 4 in 7th behind Canada.
Delapierre said the result was ‘really painful’. “It hurts a lot, we didn’t finish the job this weekend and that’s really painful for everybody on board.”
He added that the team’s final season result did ‘not show what we have done this season’, adding that he was ‘proud of what the team achieved’.
It comes as uncertainty remains over the future of the team, which was given notice as one of three SailGP-owned teams tasked with finding their own funding by the start of the 2024/2025 Season.
Season 4 winners Spain, Canada and France have all been warned that the league will likely not continue to fund them and at least one of them won’t be starting the new season, which kicks off in Dubai this November.