What a Week: New F50 Gets Launched Then Smashed

March 1, 2023

What a difference a few days makes. On the Tuesday of the second week in February, the strategist of the Canada SailGP Team and National Sailing Team 49erFX sailor, Georgia Lewin-Lafrance from Chester, NS did the honours last week naming the team’s new F50 SPIRIT, just before the team’s inaugural sail in preparation for the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix.

On Saturday, just four days later, the boat was already on the Disabled List when a severe weather system passed through while the Canada SailGP Team’s F50 catamaran was craning out after the first day of racing. The Canadian wing was severely damaged; thankfully, no one on the team was seriously injured.  

Given the extensive damage to several wings and the team’s F50, racing for Sunday was cancelled and the results allocated on the basis of Saturday’s sailing. The storm wreaked havoc in parts of the city and left 60,000 people without power.

The next race goes in just a couple of weeks in Christchurch, NZ.

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