Black Foils begin physical, emotional repairs after horror SailGP crash with France
Salvage crew survey the wreckage of Black Foils’ Amokura boat at New Zealand SailGP.
Photo: James Gourley for SailGP
The Black Foils are drawing heavily on the strength of injured grinder Louis Sinclair as they come to grips with the horror crash that all but destroyed their F50 boat during New Zealand SailGP last weekend.
As the 13-boat fleet sprinted off the startline of Saturday’s third race, NZ driver Peter Burling seemed to lose control of Amokura’s rudder and swerved sharply into the path of France, whose boat ploughed over the top of bow, slicing it in two and leaving Sinclair with compound fractures in both legs.
He underwent surgery on the weekend and was pictured on social media overnight, leaving hospital on his own two feet.
“I just want to really commend Louis for how he’s handled himself throughout this whole incident,” Black Foils wing trimmer Blair Tuke said. “He’s been amazing really in true Louis fashion, and holding true to the values and characteristics we hope all our team members instil.
“Amazingly calm right from the first incident out on the water to the surgery in Auckland Hospital and as he comes out now for what will now be quite a long recovery back to full health.
“With his calm demeanour and unique sense of humour, he’s really brought strength to all of us through this time.”
The New Zealand team have spoken publicly for the first time since the high-speed crash that shocked thousands of spectators watching from the massive grandstand on Wynyard Point.
In happier times, the Black Foils, with Louis Sinclair second left, celebrate their SailGP victory at Portsmouth 2025.
Photo: Jason Ludlow for SailGP
Team bosses Tuke and driver Burling are still processing exactly what happened in those fateful seconds before, during and after impact.
“We started off with a great two races, and were really enjoying the conditions and feeling comfortable in the boat,” Burling recalled.
“We started off race three and were going down reach one to windward of the Italian boat. We ended up high on the foil and ended up sliding sideways.
“We hit a system limit, which drastically escalated that situation, and had to take quite drastic action to avoid the Italian boat to leeward, which resulted in us touching down. Obviously, the incident followed that.”
Burling said once the spray had cleared, he could see his four crewmates safe, knowing strategist Liv Mackay was on the other side of the boat out of harm’s way.
Louis Sinclair leaves hospital, after surgery to compound fractures of both legs.
Photo: Facebook/NZ SailGP Team
“At that stage, you’re thankful everyone’s safe, but very quickly we realised Louis had his legs stuck in the bottom of the cockpit and we can only commend Louis on his demeanour through that time.
“It was incredible to see someone in a situation like that remain so calm, and be such an instrumental part of telling us what he was feeling and where the pressure was, and getting the two boats apart.
“I think we can all learn a lot from Louis through this time and it’s pretty incredible to see the way he responded in the situation, but we’re also incredibly proud of the rest of our team and the way everyone came together in a tough situation, and the French team as well.
“They were dealing with situations on board, but definitely came straight to our aid.”
French strategist Manon Audinet sustained several abdominal bruising, when she was catapulted forward on impact, breaking the steering wheel. She is also under medical observation and is recovering well,
Burling has replayed the incident over and over in his mind, but has also had the benefit of a myriad other perspectives on the incident.
“The thing with SailGP is there are so many camera angles, all the audio and all the different aspects,” he explained. “It’s really nice in some ways to know that your memory of the whole situation was pretty accurate.
“It’s also interesting some things you didn’t see or weren’t concentrating on at the time, how everything unfolded.
New Zealand and France collide during New Zealand SailGP off Auckland’s Wynyard Point.
Photo: Felix Diemer for SailGP
“It’s all part of the wider review process from here.”
New Zealand SailGP represented the first occasion all 13 teams raced on the water together, and other drivers suggested jamming that many boats onto the compact WaitematΔ Harbour course in tricky wind conditions probably didn’t help the situation.
Organisers responded by splitting the fleet into smaller heats on Sunday, increasing safety, but possibly detracting from the spectacle.
SailGP is still investigating the incident, but has already ruled New Zealand and France out of the Sydney regatta next week.
Inspections have confirmed Amokura’s central pod and port hull emerged relatively unscathed, and can be used to repair the damage to the French boat. Because they did not cause the impact, returning France to the startline will take priority.
Given the extent of damage to their boat, the Kiwis are probably waiting for completion of the next new boat, which SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts indicated could be June.
“From here, we’re still working out that exact path forward,” Burling said. “We definitely won’t be in Sydney and SailGP is still undertaking that wider planning process around when the Black Foils will be back on the startline.
“We’re having to play a little bit of a waiting game now.”
In the meantime, the mending continues.
“For the wider team, mental and physical health is paramount through this time,” Tuke said. “We’re just taking it day by day to make sure everyone is supported in the way that they need as individuals.
“It was a really horrific incident and how we manage our path back from here is really important.”
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