SailGP: Frustrated Kiwis make early exit from Fremantle - penalised for collision
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 17 Jan 03:40 PST
Black Foils inspected their damaged F50 - Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix - Event 1, Day 1, Season 6 - January 17, 2026 © Ricardo Pinto/SailGP
The first race of the Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix sailed off Fremantle, literally started with a bang, when New Zealand's Black Foils had a collision with the Swiss team as the boats crossed tacks downwind.
The Swiss took off the stern section of the Kiwi team, who were adjudged to be the give way boat. Both teams were out of racing for the rest of the day.
The shore teams have a possibility of repairing the Swiss F50. But for the BlackFoils, their regatta is over.
"It was a tricky Day 1 for us here in Perth," Burling said reflecting on the day.
"We got off to an awesome start, then we had a incident with the Swiss at the bottom of the first run."
"We were both sailing along a port with them as a windward boat, and then they just swung super hard at us. We couldn't quite keep up with the turn rate, and then took out the back of our boat.
"It's super frustrating to be back on the shore.
"For us, we're thankful everyone's in one piece and safe."
"Everyone has seen the extent of the damage — there is no transom on our boat. That means no racing for us tomorrow. We'll just have to see how quickly the league can rebuild the boat and what the situation will be going forward."
The Swiss hit the Kiwis in the port stern section, about a metre behind Burling's helm position.
"Yeah, it was a pretty short day," said Sebastian Schneiter, skipper of the Switzerland SailGP Team.
"We gybed the boat and it all happened really quickly. It's really hard. I'm not just blaming it on the Kiwis — they did their best — but unfortunately it was too late for them. We were the right-of-way boat, on starboard for more than three seconds before we met them. Once we realised there was no avoiding action, we did our best to minimise it, and it was pretty scary."
"That's the focus now — focusing on tomorrow. We knew this season would be challenging, and it won't be the first time we see moments like this. For us, it's about how we bounce back. We're super motivated to go out tomorrow and grow as a team from this."
The Black Foils were penalised 8pts for the incident, reduced to 7pts on review, which will see them on negative points for the regatta.
SailGP has very strict rules about boat contact and damage, with season points penalties also able to be awarded.
The other issue for the Black Foils is how and if their F50 will be repaired in time to race in Auckland in the next event in mid-February, however there is no shortage of excellent build and repair capability in the Kiwi team's home town, and from that perspective they could not be coming to a better place.
However the repair options will have to be synched with the logistical plan to get the team to Auckland, and the Tech Base set up. Most of the suppliers of key components are based in New Zealand - CTech and Mackay Boats. Southern Spars built Emirates Team NZ's 2017 AC50 which is now part of the F50 fleet. RocketLab has repurposed the original Core Builders Composite facility, which was rebadged as SailGP Technologies, before the decision to shift to Southampton.
Obviously there is also the option of manufacturing new parts in Southampton, and flying those to New Zealand for incorporation into the new structure.
Repairs to the Swiss F50 appeared to be minimal and easily within the capability for an overnight repair by the SailGP shore support team.
For a new angle on the collision, plus an indication of how long it can take a wingsail to gybe on the Australian boat: