Andy Rice
Lightning threat calls off SailGP practice – again
No practice racing for the second event running. Normally sailors aren’t that bothered about missing a practice race, especially if it’s chucking down with rain like it has been in Sydney for the past 24 hours. But lost time in...
'The safest is when you're pushing hard' - Billy Gooderham explains flight control
Last season, NorthStar SailGP Team’s flight controller Billy Gooderham spent most of his race time focused on a piece of PVC tape on the bow of the F50. “It is now painted on the boat for us with a new paint job this year, so...
Jury verdict: Black Foils pushed too hard before Auckland crash
The Black Foils could have sailed their F50 more conservatively in order to avoid the loss of control that resulted in the collision with the French team at the Auckland SailGP Grand Prix earlier this month. That’s the broad...
The long shadow of Sassnitz – and the split-fleet future
The problems at the SailGP weekend in Auckland date back to the problems at SailGP in Sassnitz last August, in more ways than one. 1. The disintegration of the Brazilian F50 on the practice day in Germany, caused by a rare...
How SailGP’s Auckland weekend took a dark turn
It was a shocking change of momentum to witness the Black Foils’ fall from grace on home waters. After the battle to put the broken F50 back together after that collision with Switzerland in Perth, Pete Burling and his crew came...
SailGP to split the fleet for Sunday races
SailGP race officer Iain Murray has decided to split the fleet into two groups for Sunday’s concluding fleet races before the three-boat final at the New Zealand Grand Prix in Auckland. While The Foil hasn’t yet heard the reasons...
Black Foils grinder Sinclair suffers breaks to both legs
Following the catastrophic collision between New Zealand and France during Saturday’s SailGP racing on a gusty and unpredictable Auckland Harbour, the New Zealand team has published this statement on Saturday evening: “Black...
Lightning threat puts a stop to vital practice day
On Friday 13th, it was tempting fate to push the fleet of 13 boats on to Auckland Harbour for a day of practice racing. With so few practice days on the season schedule, canning a day of sailing is a big deal. But with the threat...
American Magic buys Rockwool Denmark
Four weeks ago, when I interviewed Nicolai Sehested in the mixed zone after Saturday’s opening day of racing at SailGP Perth, I asked the Danish skipper a cheeky question. There he was, still dripping wet in his wetsuit and...
Black Foils and Los Gallos seek Auckland retribution
The Black Foils have been in a dark mood about that penalty in Perth, and ‘Los Gallos’ have been seeing red over their lack of compensation points for a broken boat during training in Perth. While neither Burling nor Botín can...
The Olympian windsurfer with a golden future far beyond LA 2028
Having worn the yellow bib going into the winner-takes-all medal race final at Paris 2024, Grae Morris might be forgiven for harbouring a few regrets at missing out on Olympic gold. But the young Australian windsurfer is not...
Burling's boat coming back together
Pete Burling is feeling ready to take on the world again after the Black Foils F50 suffered that race-stopping collision with the Swiss on the first lap of the first race of the first event of SailGP Season 2026. The initial fear...
Russell Coutts wants Olympic sailing to think bigger
It can seem like Russell Coutts doesn’t talk about much else than SailGP. But that doesn’t mean he’s completely switched off from the rest of the sport. Quite the opposite in fact. The New Zealander doesn’t make much of a...
How SailGP decides who's right at 50 knots
Sometimes Craig Mitchell and his team of SailGP umpires feel the benefit of operating remotely from a windowless studio in London. The chief umpire of SailGP since it began six years ago, Mitchell thinks back to one particularly...
Rise of the machines: Why automation is a problem
Did you know that Tom Cruise does his own movie stunts? Yes, of course you do. It’s part of the reason why his movies are such profitable blockbusters. After 30 or more years of incredible CGI effects, the Mission Impossible...
