The home team on a crash course with Team New Zealand © Christophe Favreau/SailGP
While winter sports, including Franjo von Allmen’s golden triumph in the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, dominate the headlines here in Switzerland, it is summer in the southern hemisphere.
As the sun shone in Australia, the flying F50 catamarans of SailGP gathered off the shore of Bathers Beach for the opening of SailGP Season 6. Conditions promised a high-intensity race, with strong winds and choppy water. Just as Lac Léman sailors know the foehn as the powerful wind that can carry them to a fast victory as much as it can destroy a fleet, the SailGP sailors had to contend with the “Fremantle Doctor” sweeping in from the south-west, driving the catamarans to peak speeds of over 100 km/h as they rode steep waves. It was the infamous Fremantle Doctor that caused havoc at the 1986 America’s Cup, leaving blown-out sails, boat breakdowns and men overboard in its wake.
Day 1 started off with a literal bang as our hometown favourites, Team Switzerland, boldly gybed onto starboard about a minute or so from the start, with Peter Burling’s Black Foils on the port side. Switzerland sheared off the Kiwis’ entire port stern in a catastrophic crash in front of the fans’ grandstand. The umpires handed Team New Zealand an eight-point penalty for failing to give way, ultimately reduced to seven on appeal, which translated into a three-point deduction for the season. The challenging conditions off Fremantle had also claimed other losses. Spain’s Los Gallos suffered a race-ending crash that ended their hopes even before the starting gun was fired. The dangerous wind also caused crew casualties for the home team Australia and new entrant Sweden.
Joining the SailGP stalwarts on the start line was a new team, Artemis Racing, representing Sweden. Helming Sweden’s debut effort was Nathan Outteridge, who helped the team storm to a joint lead on Day 1, decisively overtaking France in the final race manoeuvre, with Les Bleus falling off their foils.
Day 2 dawned with significant swell as the Fremantle Doctor intensified, demanding the highest level of racing and punishing small errors. The leading teams sought to protect their positions with more conservative tactics, while the trailing teams took their chances with risky manoeuvres. Eighth-placed Team Denmark Rockwool were able to better their own speed record, clocking in at 103 km/h.
Team Switzerland rejoined the fleet at the start line after the technical team repaired damage to their catamaran overnight. Unfortunately, the Black Foils, having lost their transom and sustained substantial damage to the bulkhead, may be out of commission until their mid-February home race off the coast of Auckland.
After a solid performance on Day 1, Season 5 defending champions Emirates Great Britain battled back from a Day 2 boundary penalty that forced them to restart at the back of the fleet but saw them climb to the top of the leaderboard by the day’s end. The home team, Australia’s Bonds Flying Roos, had their own out-of-boundary penalty in the final race. France kept the pressure on, getting to windward and pulling ahead, but Team Great Britain found the inside line and broke clear, leaving France and Australia to contend with each other while they sailed on to victory.
