SailGP: First video released of Foiling 50 sailing off Whangarei

The first Foiling 50 test sails off Marsden Cove, Whangarei, Northland © Beau Outteridge

SailGP have released the first image and video of the Foiling 50, being developed by Core Builders Composites and test sailed from Marsden Cove marina.

The six Foiling 50's will be shipped to Sydney where the first regatta will be sailed at the end of February.

Derived from the AC50 used in the 36th America's Cup, the platform has been standardised with electrical energy carried in a battery bank used for the raising and lowering of the daggerboard foils.

Control systems for the wingsail will also be standardised.

The crew is reduced to five from the six used in the Bermuda in the 2017 America's Cup.

Currently the boats are believed to be carrying only one wingsail, however it is likely that a second smaller wingsail will be developed that will allow the boats to sail in a higher windrange.

While the changes are aimed at making a one-design foiling wingsailed catamaran, most of the changes were on the slate for the original AC50, but due to time pressures were not implemented.

The original concept of the AC50 was for it to have detachable bows, which reduced the length to enable the boat to be fitted into a 40ft container. The wingsail was intended to be able to be broken down in the same way.

The idea of the AC50 was that the Challenger and Defender teams would be able to ship their gear to various venues and sail a Series that had some relevance to the Qualification for the America's Cup.

In the end the AC45F was developed - being a one design AC45 foiling version and sailed in a series of two day regattas that did count for Qualification Round points.