SailGP depth chart getting tested

When the Kiwi team lost control of their F50 during the SailGP event on their home waters of Auckland, the dominoes got scattered. Broken boats, broken crew, and a diminished fleet.

Their collision with the French knocked both boats out of that event, and the shore team has been pulling all-nighters to replace the crushed hulls and gear. Both teams missed the following event with no news yet on what repairs will be completed for the Apr 11-12  event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Messy!

But unlike the comparison with Formula One racing that SailGP enjoys to promote, the sailors do not enjoy similar cockpit protection. Louis Sinclair (NZL) suffered compound fractures in both legs while Manon Audinet (FRA) was hospitalized for five nights for observation of potential internal injuries and a hand injury.

French wing trimmer Leigh McMillan, initially downplaying his own condition, later revealed a shoulder injury from the collision. “I basically had a traumatic tear to the supraspinatus and the scapularis tendons,” McMillan said. “They had completely detached from the bone.”

The severity of the damage required immediate surgery, with McMillan to miss upcoming SailGP events while he focuses on rehabilitation.