The damage occurred during the opening race of the 2026 SailGP season in Perth, when the Black Foils’ F50 was involved in a high-speed collision with the Switzerland SailGP Team. The impact caused severe damage to the port hull, immediately forcing the New Zealand team out of the Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix. Race officials later issued the Black Foils with seven event penalty points after determining they were at fault.
Following the incident, SailGP Technologies carried out detailed inspections and non-destructive testing on the platform. Those assessments confirmed the F50’s primary structural elements remain intact, allowing the team to pursue a repair rather than a full platform replacement.
However, the scope of the work remains significant. Damage to a key internal bulkhead means an entirely new hull section must be manufactured at SailGP’s centre of design and engineering in Southampton before being flown to New Zealand for installation.
“This repair is about as big as it gets in this timeframe,” said Joel Marginson, Director of SailGP Technologies.
He continued, “The critical structure remains intact, which allows us to repair rather than replace, but the damage extends into the bulkhead, making this one of the most substantial in-season composite repairs ever undertaken by the league.”
Multiple specialist teams are now working in parallel to produce new hull, deck, stern, and steering components. Once the rebuilt section arrives in Auckland, it will be bonded into the existing platform before full reassembly, systems integration, and calibration can begin.
Despite the compressed schedule and technical complexity, SailGP Technologies says confidence remains high that the Black Foils will be ready to race on home waters, with the repair effort described internally as a race against time, precision, and engineering limits.
