SailGP: Practice racing canned, but big breeze for weekend's racing
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 12 Feb 19:46 PST
Black Foils - Practice Day - ITM NZ SailGP - February 13, 2026 - Auckland, NZ © Felix Diemer/SailGP
The Practice Racing scheduled for Friday at ITM NZ SailGP, was cancelled after a forecast of lightning - which didn't eventuate.
In its place came a 15kt plus easterly (onshore) breeze, which was not sufficent to keep the clouds flying, and Auckland was clothed in a grey murk which reduced visibility to a few hundred metres, if that. Not the ideal conditions for 13 SailGP teams to be trying to limber up in the congested, landlocked venue.
However three teams were allowed to go through "commissioning", leaving at varying stages of the day - essentially doing their own thing.
The Kiwis to test their new port stern section setup, which was completed on Wednesday, following their collison with the Swiss after just 90seconds of racing in the first event of Season 6 in Fremantle. The Swiss were repaired overnight in Freo, sailed the next day, and so weren't entitled to commissioning time today.
The Spanish also were on the water, testing their new foil case, their repaired foil and hull following a splashdown in the firrst day of three days of training at the Oracle Perth SailGP in Freo.
Germany were the third team to venture out - having also undergone a remedial repair following a check of the fleet after the catastrophic structural failure suffered by Los Gallos.
The forecast for Saturday and Sunday is unchanged. Today's easterly and heavy cloud will give way around 0600hrs on Saturday morning with SW winds gusting 20-30kts forecast. Same song second verse for Sunday, except the breeze is expected to be gusting into the high 30kts.
In response, SailGP organisers have pulls the start time forward by 4.5hrs on Sunday, which will get the fleet into slightly lighter winds, but more importantly will get the SailGP fleet on the right side of the tide, with racing now taking place when there will be minimal tidal flow.
The topography of the race area accentuates the effect of the SW breeze coming off a long unhindered run up across the upper Waitemata Harbour, before it gets squeezed between the the takeoff land points for the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
That wind effect will be compounded by a wind against the rising tide - with high water at 1810hrs and 1840hrs on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Saturday's racing will take place in a whitecapped seaway in which standing waves are not uncommon. Sunday's sea state should be milder, but the SW wind will be 17kts, gusting over 25kts. The Predictwind model takes local topography into account.