The Great Britain SailGP Team are unable to compete in the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix, after sustaining damage to its F50 race boat during practice racing in Copenhagen.
On the final day of practice yesterday, the team was completing pre-race training drills when they hit an uncharted rock just outside the racecourse boundary. Damage sustained included snapping the head of the starboard rudder clean off and damage to the starboard daggerboard and board casing.
After a successful retrieval of the rudder the damage was assessed. Unfortunately for the GBR team the foil board casing was beyond an onsite repair and the team had no choice but to retire from the Danish event.
Statement by Great Britain SailGP Team co-owner and driver Ben Ainslie:
“We were training just outside the racecourse boundary and unfortunately hit an unmarked rock. We sustained a lot of damage to the starboard rudder, daggerboard and board casing.
“We reviewed the damage ashore and unfortunately it has put us out of this event, which is a difficult call for the team. Incidents like this are tough but that’s sport, you’re going to have these moments and the teams that keep their heads up are the ones that come back stronger and that’s what we are going to do.
“We appreciate all the support from the SailGP Tech Team to retrieve the boat and help repair the damage ready for racing in Saint-Tropez next month.”
The ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix is live in the UK on Sky Sports from 2 PM BST on Friday, August 19 and on Saturday, August 21, or free to view on SailGP’s YouTube channel. The British team will next race in the France Sail Grand Prix Saint-Tropez Friday 11 and Saturday 12 September and look to climb back up the leaderboard having arrived in Denmark in 2nd place overall.
