SailGP athletes react to Rockwool Den not racing in S. Francisco
SailGP athletes react to Rockwool Den not racing in S. Francisco
SailGP athletes have reacted to the news that ROCKWOOL DEN will not compete at this weekend’s event in San Francisco after the team crashed into a mark last weekend in Los Angeles.
The collision caused significant damage to the Danish F50, which was too extensive to repair in time for this weekend’s racing. The team will not receive any redress points for missing San Francisco, meaning they will finish the event bottom of the leaderboard.
It’s a big blow to Nicolai Sehested’s team, which hit the mark in the first fleet race of L.A., resulting in a last place finish there too.
Australia driver Tom Slingsby described ROCKWOOL DEN’s absence from this weekend’s racing as ‘a sad situation’, adding ‘we really feel for them’.
The Aussies themselves were in a similar situation last season, after smashing into a race mark in the opening race of Christchurch. Slingsby’s team were also unable to compete in the rest of the event.
“We’ve been in that situation where we’ve really badly damaged our boat in the first race of the event but we had six weeks [between events], so we were able to get the boat fixed in time,” he said. “The Danish with back to back weekends can’t get their boat fixed - our thoughts go out to them.
Northstar Canada wing trimmer Paul Campbell-James meanwhile said he was ‘just gutted for them’.
“It was a tiny little error and they got seriously punished in the last event for A) getting the damage points and B) missing the whole event and to miss this one as well.”
Meanwhile, Mubadala Brazil driver Martine Grael described the news as ‘shocking’.
“Nobody is pushing limits to crash on purpose. We’re always trying to play on the safe side, and the rules are really pushing us to get quite close in boat on boat situations.”
SailGP athletes react to Rockwool Den not racing in S. Francisco
Meanwhile, Kiwi driver Peter Burling also highlighted the team’s similar situation last season, which saw New Zealand miss the second day of racing in Saint-Tropez and the entire Taranto event after the collapse of the F50’s wing.
“It’s super tough as a team, but with all these things, adversity generally pulls a team together so I’m sure they’ll be back stronger in events to come,” he said.
The Oracle San Francisco Sail Grand Prix takes place on March 22-23, with racing from 2.30PDT.
