SailGP: French and Kiwi F50 hulls joined to create new platform.
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com/nz 17 Feb 23:48 PST
The French starboard hull is joined with the Black Foils’ port hull – Southern Spars – February 18, 2026 © Southern Spars
The still usable pieces of the DS Automobiles and Black Foils F50s have been reassembled at the Southern Spars facility in Avondale, West Auckland.
The two boats collided on the sprint leg of Race 3 of ITM NZ SailGP in Auckland on Saturday afternoon. Both teams took no further part in the regatta, even though they occupied the top two places on the overnight leaderboard.
Although the crash appeared serious, early photographs showed that some parts of both F50s were largely undamaged, and a usable platform might be salvaged using components from both boats.
After damage inspection, the starboard hull from the French F50, along with both crossbeams, has been connected to the port hull of the Black Foils F50.
Ironically, the French F50 is derived from the Emirates Team NZ AC50, which won the 2017 America’s Cup in Bermuda, and was built by Southern Spars.
After being displayed on the wall of the Viaduct Events Centre, repurposed as Emirates Team NZ’s base for the 2021 America’s Cup defence, the America’s Cup winner was sold to the SailGP league. The cyclor positions were removed as part of the conversion to a one-design F50.
It is not clear what happens from here.
It will be a stretch to get the finished F50 to Sydney for the next SailGP round on February 28.
That depends on a number of factors, including whether either hull suffered water ingress during the collision, which means electrical systems will have to be completely replaced. As they were not directly involved in the impact, the T-Foils and their cases should have escaped unscathed, similarly for the T-Foil rudders.
The fairing skin has been stripped completely from the F50, and it is likely that this will also be the case for the wingsail.
Based on shirt colour, the repairs appear to be undertaken by a joint team of SailGP Technologies (Orange shirts) and Southern Spars staff.
No images are available of the disassembled wingsail on DS Automobiles; the F50 was towed ashore with the wingsail apparently intact, however, it may have struck the Black Foils’ wingsail, which toppled several minutes after the collision.
The wingsail used was the 18metre version. With all F50s, the top section and bottom sections of the wingsail remain constant, and the rig is extended by the addition of new mid-sections. The bottom section, in particular, contains many complex systems.
The Black Foils’ wingsail suffered some damage to the main spar, with the appended elements also being damaged.
An update on the Black Foils situation will be given at a media session on Thursday morning in Auckland.
