The unsettling silence following the Auckland SailGP collision – Matt Sheahan

Did a system limit cause the Auckland crash? Matt Sheahan looks at the technical gaps and the software updates SailGP isn't discussing

The shockwaves from Auckland in February are still resonating. Since the dramatic collision in the second event of the current SailGP season, at the time of writing few official answers have yet been given as to what would be done to reduce the risks in future.

Meanwhile the crash, which left two crewmembers in hospital with serious injuries, has prompted much discussion, especially among professional sailors.

Many remain shaken by just how close the collision between the French DS Automobiles team and the Kiwi Black Foils came to tragedy. Luck played a huge part in avoiding a tragedy and that’s what’s been so unsettling.

And it’s not just sailors. I’ve been told there’s growing unease within some technical and support areas, to the point that some are questioning whether they can continue. Choosing between career and principles is not an easy decision to make and so it’s hardly surprising that few, if any, want to speak publicly.

I fully accept that it’s easy to be wise after the event, to call for changes and expect things to happen in an instant when the reality is far more complex and where speculation and knee jerk responses are far from helpful. It’s not an easy path to tread, especially when the frenetic pace of a busy and ambitious schedule means that the show has to go on.

But what worries me is the radio silence from the organisation following the accident. Aside from some words from SailGP CEO Russell Coutts in the press conference at the Sydney event two weeks later, and a single feature on their website about the initial findings, there has been barely anything else said.

As you might expect I asked SailGP several times for an interview but, despite agreeing in principle initially, I was told just before their next GP in Sydney started that no-one was available for comment. Instead, I was re-directed to the press conference.

In this rather one-sided affair Coutts acknowledged there’d always be things to learn. He pointed out that the process is more involved than people might imagine, that the details of the crash were being investigated and that there could be future modifications both to the boats and their systems. He also said changes to crew clothing along with physical changes to the boats to offer more protection were all under consideration.

“There’s a lot to go through,” he said before adding that actions taken for the Sydney weekend were a big step forward. Yet there was no mention of what those changes actually were. Split fleet racing was also discussed where Coutts said that while this wouldn’t remove all the risk, this format was already the intention for next season where there’d be 14 boats taking part.

The cause of the Kiwi F50’s spin out has been discussed in detail. Essentially, SailGP’s findings point to an excess of ride height allowing the boat to skid sideways, developing more lift than could be scrubbed off with a change in angle of attack of the foil before they found their grip and, along with a nose dive, spun into the path of the French.

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The following day, on the same leg of the course, the Italian team seemed to suffer a very similar broach. Nothing was mentioned of this or any apparent similarity with the Kiwi experience.

But a few days after the incident, Black Foils’ skipper Peter Burling faced the Kiwi press where he said they’d hit a ‘system limit’ which ‘dramatically escalated the situation’ forcing them to take drastic action to avoid the boat to leeward before then rounding up.

In the SailGP report posted the following week there was no mention of reaching the system limit or the Italian spin out. This seemed to leave Burling out on a limb. And yet midway through the live broadcast of the opening day in Sydney, in a short video package between racing, Alex Reid, the director of performance engineering said the flight controller software aboard the F50 cats had now been modified to detect when the boat is sliding sideways and would allow more negative lift on the foil to be achieved. So, had Burling been right? We never found out.

Of course, SailGP are under no obligation to tell us how they’re investigating and how they might respond. I don’t doubt there are some very good minds and people on the case right now, but the sense that the most serious crash we’ve seen in SailGP so far is not up for discussion is making some feel very uncomfortable.

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