SailGP: Black Foils "pumped" to be sailing again in Auckland following Freo smash.
by Will Carson, SailGP 30 Jan 14:21 PST
Black Foils - Race Day 1- ITM New Zealand - January 19, 2025 - Auckland © Felix Diemer/SailGP
Black Foils wing trimmer Blair Tuke says his team is “absolutely pumped” at the prospect of racing in front of a roaring home crowd, with a dramatic recovery effort reigniting hopes of seeing them back on the Auckland start line.
After a horror crash in the opening event of the 2026 Season threatened to rob Black Foils fans of their home heroes at the ITM Auckland Sail Grand Prix | Auckland, a round-the-clock recovery effort from SailGP Technologies has flipped the script.
The collision between the Black Foils and Switzerland caused catastrophic damage to the left-side hull of the Kiwi F50, immediately ruling the team out of the Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix presented by KPMG.
But a heroic rebuild - SailGP’s biggest ever in-season repair - has put the Black Foils on track to fly once more on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour on February 14-15, with thousands of supporters ready to lift the team when it matters most.
Tuke, the Black Foils’ co-CEO alongside driver Peter Burling, paid tribute to the herculean efforts by SailGP Technologies to keep their hopes of wowing home crowds alive.
“It's huge for us,” he said. “This is the best event of the season - we get the opportunity to race in front of our home fans. It was amazing last year, and I know this year's gonna be even better. So, for us, even after this adversity that we've faced, to have the opportunity to come out here and race in front of home fans, we're absolutely pumped.”
Initial inspections and non-destructive testing revealed the F50’s critical structure remained intact, allowing SailGP Technologies to carry out a repair rather than replacing the entire platform.
However the bulkhead, a key structural partition within the hull, was badly damaged, requiring an entirely new section of hull to be manufactured at SailGP’s state-of-the-art centre of innovation, design and engineering in Southampton, before being flown to New Zealand.
Once there it will be bonded to the Black Foils’ hull - and barring any major issues the team will be back on the water for the start of racing.
Sail-World: The damaged part and replacement components are due in Auckland on February 4. They will be taken to C-Tech's West Auckland facility for the repair to be completed, and the F50 is expected to be in test sailing on February 13.
With SailGP’s grandstands offering a prime view over the race course, and 13 F50s set to light up Waitemata Harbour, Tuke said the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix is set to be epic.
“The growth and the trajectory of SailGP is amazing to be part of,” Tuke said. “The grandstands hold more than 10,000 people and it sits right in the middle of the racetrack here on the inner Waitemata Harbour. The harbour’s narrow, there’s land all around, and it creates an incredible stadium-like atmosphere.
“When you put 13 F50s out there, you really get a sense of just how fast these boats are. They’ll be buzzing past with the city right behind them, and you see the true scale and speed up close. If last year’s conditions are anything to go by we’re in for an unreal weekend.”