Australian SailGP wing explodes in major disaster during San Francisco drama for Tom Slingsby

A loud bang and thousands of dollars worth of hi tech machinery crashed on the Australians SailGP foiling 50-footers in a shocking and “very scary’ disaster in San Francisco. Watch the video

Australian skipper Tom Slingsby and his crew were left shaking but unharmed after a shocking incident where their giant wingsail exploded and crashed on to their foiling 50ft catamaran in a “very scary” accident in the San Francisco leg of the SailGP series.

Slingsby said he was just relieved he and his crew were unharmed in the pre-start disaster, which ended their campaign to win the San Francisco leg of the series. Support crew raced to salvage the racing catamaran and check on the crew’s safety.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said the Australian skipper, who was favoured to win the San Francisco leg after multiple wins at the venue in the past. It’s a bit of shock obviously, a very scary situation.

“We are all unharmed and all OK, but when something like that happens all you think about is if everyone is going to be OK.

“Fortunately, we are all safe and that’s the first priority and now we just have to save the boat as best we can.”

The points lost and opportunities gone were secondary to crew safety and being able to get the boat salvaged, he said.

The Australians had qualified for the three-boat final when disaster struck on the approach to the start line in race seven. The damage meant they were unable to contest the final, which was won by Spain with Canada second and France third.

Originally published as Australian SailGP wing explodes in major disaster during San Francisco drama for Tom Slingsby