SailGP: Foil case damage keeps Danes out of second SailGP event
by SailGP Media 21 Mar 2025 04:16 GMT
Rockwool Denmark - Day 2 ITM New Zealand SailGP - January 19, 2025 - Auckland © Ricardo Pinto/SailGP
The Rockwool Denmark Racing SailGP Team will not compete in San Francisco after damage sustained in Los Angeles was deemed too extensive to repair in time for the weekend.
The Danish team was forced to retire in the opening race of the Rolex Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix after hitting a race mark. The collision damaged the F50's foil and casing, and caused significant structural damage to the port hull.
With just five days between the two events, the damage was considered too extensive to repair in time. As a result, Rockwool Denmark Racing will be forced to miss racing in San Francisco this weekend on March 22-23.
Driver of the Rockwool Denmark Racing SailGP Team, Nicolai Sehested, described the news as 'devastating'.
"It’s a challenging situation, but it’s not because people haven’t tried. SailGP’s Tech Team and our Shore Team have been working super hard to make it happen under the timelines, but a lot of it comes down to a crucial part that’s not yet available on site – the board case."
SailGP does not have spare board cases at the moment - there are currently two spares in production at SailGP Technologies, but they take around 12 weeks to complete, and they are approximately half way built.
Sehested said there is 'no way' the team's damaged board case 'can be repaired properly in time for this weekend'.
“As it’s a highly-loaded part of the F50, it’s important that the repair is done properly, so it’s an impossible mission for the Tech Team to get the damage repaired in three days between two busy events.”
The Danish team was docked 8pts from its 2025 Season score for the incident in Los Angeles, plus 12 event penalty points – resulting in a last place finish.
Now the team will miss a second consecutive event in San Francisco.
Sehested described it as a 'harsh penalty' - 'missing two events, plus getting maximum damage points.'
“Our season is massively at risk of being done, before we’ve even gotten to the European leg, so it’s a tough one to swallow for the team. We’ve just got to stand together as a group, try to figure out how we get on from here, and come back stronger," he said.
The Rockwool Denmark Racing SailGP Team currently sits 9th on the overall 2025 Season leaderboard, with nine season points. An umpire review as to whether Rockwool Denmark will be awarded compensatory points for the Oracle San Francisco Sail Grand Prix is currently underway.