Two separate incidents during Friday practice at Sassnitz left one team out of the Germany SailGP event entirely and another in a desperate race against the clock to get their boat back on the water.
The more serious of the two involved the Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team, whose F50 catamaran suffered a catastrophic structural failure during the second practice race. At high speed, the front beam collapsed in a violent nosedive, leaving the boat too badly damaged to race. No crew were injured, but the extent of the structural damage made repairs impossible within the time available. An investigation has been opened to establish what caused the failure.
Brazil's elimination before competitive racing had even begun reduces the Sassnitz fleet from nine teams to eight, a significant blow to the weekend's competition.
Just minutes earlier in the same session, Quentin Delapierre's France SailGP Team also ran into serious trouble. Their F50 sustained damage that caused the boat to drop off its foils. Delapierre was taken to hospital for precautionary checks and was subsequently cleared of injury.
Unlike Brazil's situation, France's damage was judged to be potentially repairable. The SailGP shore team launched an overnight effort to return the French F50 to racing condition ahead of the opening race of Saturday's programme, scheduled for 3.30pm CEST. Whether that turnaround could be completed in time remained the pressing question as the night wore on.
The twin incidents cast a shadow over the start of the Germany event, raising questions about the challenging conditions the teams encountered during what was supposed to be a preparatory session before racing began in earnest.
