DS Automobiles France SailGP Team wing trimmer Leigh McMillan has revealed the full extent of the shoulder injury he suffered during the Auckland SailGP collision, confirming surgery and a recovery period that will keep him sidelined from upcoming events.
British sailor Leigh McMillan has spoken publicly about the crash that reshaped the Auckland SailGP weekend, describing how a split second incident on the racecourse resulted in a serious shoulder injury and forced him out of the next stages of the SailGP season.
McMillan, wing trimmer for the DS Automobiles France SailGP Team, was injured during the high speed collision between France and the New Zealand Black Foils during Race 3 on Day 1 of the Auckland SailGP. The incident damaged both F50 catamarans and brought racing to a halt, with neither team able to return to the water for the remainder of the event.
For McMillan, the moment itself unfolded so quickly there was little time to process what was happening.
“It all happened very quickly. The whole thing was over in an absolute flash,” he said. “It was really just a split second moment.”
France driver Quentin Delapierre described the same moment in similar terms when speaking after the event, emphasising just how fast the situation escalated.
“The impact was huge and we never experienced that magnitude of impact,” Delapierre said. “Looking at the crash itself, it just happened in less than a second.”
Quentin Delapierre speaks exclusively to Boating New Zealand after Auckland SailGP crash
Both sailors describe the incident as a sudden, violent impact with almost no opportunity to avoid it.
For McMillan, instinct took over.
“It was just kind of brace for impact really,” he said.
Thrown onto the deck as the boats came together, he struck the interior of the boat heavily and realised the impact had also damaged onboard control systems.
“I hit the deck pretty hard and I could feel that I’d wiped out a load of the control systems on the inside of the boat with my knee.”
In the immediate aftermath, attention shifted quickly to the wellbeing of the crew. The French team’s strategist Manon Audinet was taken to hospital following the collision, and the priority was ensuring that everyone involved received proper medical care.
McMillan says that context shaped his own reaction to the injury he had just sustained.
“Quite honestly, my situation seemed completely manageable,” he said. “There were some really serious injuries at play and that was the absolute priority.”
Audinet was later discharged from hospital and has since begun her own recovery, with the French team confirming she avoided major long term injury.
Despite initially downplaying his own condition, McMillan quickly realised the damage to his shoulder was more serious than first thought.
“It was almost instant in my mind that there was going to be a more serious situation at hand,” he said. “I knew that I had torn something in my shoulder straight away.”
Medical examinations confirmed a traumatic injury to two key shoulder tendons.
“I basically had a traumatic tear to the supraspinatus and the scapularis tendons,” McMillan said. “They had completely detached from the bone.”
The severity of the damage required immediate surgery.
McMillan underwent the procedure with orthopaedic specialist Dr Alan Young, who confirmed the repair had been successful.
“Dr Alan Young was straight away clear that surgery was required,” McMillan said. “He was happy with the way the surgery went.”
Now just over two weeks into recovery, McMillan’s arm remains immobilised as the repaired tendons begin to heal.
“I’ve got this arm brace here that I’ve got to be strapped into for four weeks,” he said.
The injury means McMillan will miss upcoming SailGP events while he focuses on rehabilitation.
For the French team, the consequences of the Auckland crash extend beyond individual injuries. Both the French and New Zealand F50s suffered major structural damage and remain under repair within SailGP’s centralised one design system.
Delapierre said the team has placed full trust in the league’s technical group to rebuild the damaged boats.
“Regarding the boat repair, the French team is not in charge,” he said. “It’s the responsibility of SailGP and we are supporting them.”
There is still no confirmed timeline for when either the French or New Zealand boats will return to competition.
Despite the disruption, both McMillan and Delapierre are focused on helping the team regroup and rebuild momentum for the remainder of the season.
“My heart’s already with the team,” McMillan said. “I want to see everyone bounce back from this situation and get back on the water.”
The DS Automobiles France SailGP Team is now working through crew combinations and operational plans as it prepares for upcoming events.
“We haven’t got an exact game plan yet for what the next month is going to look like,” McMillan said. “The team is going through a transitional period trying to sort out what the crew lineup will be.”
Even while recovering, he intends to remain involved wherever possible.
“I want to do everything I can to still help the team through this transitional period.”
Delapierre echoed that forward looking approach, saying the focus now is on learning from the incident while keeping attention firmly on future racing.
“We don’t have to spend too much time on the past or make it too dramatic,” he said. “I just want to go back on the water and have a nice experience with my teammates and some nice victories.”
For McMillan, the path back to racing will take time, but his motivation has not changed.
“The team is super motivated,” he said. “I’m super motivated to get back to winning ways.”
With surgery complete and rehabilitation underway, his aim is simple.
To return to the SailGP fleet stronger than before.
