Major crash takes NZ and France out of New Zealand SailGP

February 14, 2026 – AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND | The opening day of the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix was cut short after two fleet races, due to a catastrophic collision between home-team Black Foils and DS Team France. Two athletes were taken to hospital in stable condition for treatment of their injuries. All other crew members have been cleared of injuries.

The crash occurred at the beginning of fleet race three, when the Kiwis appeared to lose control of their F50 catamaran at high speed, veering sharply in front of the French. The Black Foils F50 platform collapsed in the incident, as France’s F50 collided on top of the Kiwis’ hull.

DS Team France driver Quentin Delapierre expressed concern for the affected teams and said: “I think both teams are quite okay. I want to give my thoughts to the New Zealand team and also to my teammates – this was tough for everyone on both teams.” He added, “On the incident itself, I can’t really say anything. Everything happened so quickly – it’s still super cloudy in my head and I haven’t reviewed the footage or spoken to the umpires.”

Thirteen international teams competed for the first time in SailGP history, facing gusts of up to 35 km/h. The Bonds Flying Roos started strong in the initial race, achieving a victory, while Peter Burling’s Black Foils finished third in the first race and won the second before their unfortunate crash.

BONDS Flying Roos driver Tom Slingsby commented on the challenging conditions: “It was a very tricky race course. That wind direction is the one here that doesn’t leave much space, so we knew it was going to be tight. Coming into the first mark, you’re getting hit by a lot of bullets of wind and then it goes light, and it’s hard to read the breeze across the track.”

Defending Rolex SailGP Champions Emirates GBR had a mixed day, finishing 11th in race one but claiming second in race two. Emirates GBR driver Dylan Fletcher noted the challenging nature of the conditions: “It was very difficult conditions, but to be honest, it was a lot of fun until the incident. We had a terrible first race, didn’t sail very well. We finally got our act together.”

Several teams struggled with technical issues, including Northstar SailGP. Driver Giles Scott reported, “We broke one of the wing controllers on the port side, so we were a bit compromised by that at the end of the first race.”

After two fleet races, France led the event leaderboard, tied with Australia on 17 points each, while Spain held third place with 12 points. The investigation into the incident between New Zealand and France is ongoing, with both teams ruled out of tomorrow’s competition. Racing will continue on Championship Sunday, February 15, starting at 11:30 a.m. NZT.