Surf star, Olympian Ky Hurst breaks pain barrier in SailGP with Team Australia

Ky Hurst is one of the toughest athletes on the planet. But a mishap on the SailGP international circuit left him broken.

Ky Hurst racing with the Australian team on the SailGP circuit.

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Former Olympian and ironman champion Ky Hurst has spent his sporting life putting his body through the wringer.

Embraced pain and used it to achieve at the highest level.

But Hurst says a freak accident while racing a radical foiling catamaran on the international SailGP series left him bloodied and in the worst pain he has ever felt - although it still didn’t stop him racing.

Hurst was competing in the San Francisco round of the new sailing series, contested by some of the best sailors in the world, when disaster struck.

The Australia SailGP team are hoping for a big payday in France in the finale of the SailGp series.

A full-kitted Ky Hurst before racing.

Ky Hurst, right, in his ironman heyday with Shannon Eckstein.

“I don’t remember a lot,” said Hurst, the surf and swim star turned sailor now part of Team Australia on the global SailGP sailing series where crews race catamarans capable of speeds in excess of 50 knots (93km/h).

“I know we were coming to the finish and we were pressured up, we were doing about 90km on the water.

“We were either going to hit the mark and do a 360 or slow the boat down by dropping the daggerboard.

“That sent us bow down, stopped the boat and we went from 90km/h to zero. I face backward and don’t see this happening.

“I coped the wave over the bow on my back and head and it pushed me forward, I head butted Sam’s (crewmate Sam Newton) helmet and broke my nose and broke two ribs on the pedestal.

“The was so much adrenaline going on. I don’t know how bad it was and did two more races. There was a lot of blood though. It was quite concerning.’’

Countdown Season 1️⃣ Moment 5️⃣ takes us back to the jaw dropping crash in San Francisco that broke Ironman @Ky_Hurst's nose and cracked two of his ribs 😵 That didn't stop him from staying on the F50 to power the winning match race 💪 #sailingredefined #fueledbyathletes @sailgp pic.twitter.com/Cq94nfHKzu

— Australia SailGP Team (@SailGPAUS) September 16, 2019

Sydney hosted the first round of the series in light airs in February.

Hurst, who owns 30 Australian surf life saving titles and swam at two Olympics, said once the adrenaline wore off he experienced “next level’’ pain.

“Pain has been my friend for a long time. It makes you feel alive,’’ Hurst said.

“But this was next level. It was horrible. I don’t want to do that again.

“I know the risks and when you add in speed, things happen.

‘”My board has hit me in head in the past and I’ve broken my nose a couple of times, torn some ligaments. But that was the worst pain of my career.’’

The Australian team is chasing the inaugural SailGP title in France.

Australia's SailGP team of (L-R) Grinder Ky Hurst, Wing Trimmer Kyle Langford, Helmsman Tom Slingsby, Flight Controller and Tactician Jason Waterhouse, Grinder Sam Newton and Flight Controller/Grinder Kinley Fowler.

Now recovered, Hurst and Team Australia, skippered by Olympic champion Tom Slingsby and boasting fellow northern beaches gun Jason Waterhouse, will contest the finale of the series in Marseilles, France, this weekend.

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Following events in Sydney, San Francisco, New York and Cowes, the top two teams - expected to be Team Australia and Team Japan headed by Australian multiple world champion Nathan Outteridge - at the end of three days of racing will battle it out for a US$1 million payday.

Sydney has already been confirmed to host the opening leg of the 2020 SailGP series.