New Artemis team takes flight in SailGP practice

The first day of SailGP practice in 2026 has been more than anyone would have wanted. After the soft breeze of Abu Dhabi, Perth has delivered more than enough wind and waves to remind the sailors just how dangerous these foiling F50s can be.

We talk about the boats ‘flying’ but as you can see from the image of Artemis SailGP, the Swedish catamaran is fully out of the water. In another moment, during a standard manoeuvre, wing trimmer Chris Draper sustained a nasty injury after being hurled out of the cockpit and doing a face-slide across the trampoline netting, resulting in a wound to his mouth and multiple stitches.

This meant a change of personnel for Wednesday. Into the breach stepped local Australian sailor David Gilmour, with plenty of high-level experience in the sport, yet with limited time on an F50.

Bringing different crew into the mix is only going to make life harder for Nathan Outteridge and his crew as they work hard to gel as a unit, let alone the other 12 teams who have more time to get in sync with each other’s moves.