Hold my beer: Aussies smash Poms’ SailGP speed record
Adding injury to the insult of an Ashes loss, Australia takes the SailGP speed record back from Great BritainIt’s a classic case of “hold my beer”; a day after the Great Britain SailGP team boasted they had cracked the 50-knot barrier by the smallest of margins, the Australian team has gone out and smashed the speed record.
The Aussies, led by sailing Olympic champion, Americas Cup winner and world titleholder Tom Slingsby, took their foiling 50-foot catamaran at 51.24 knots – that’s 94kmh over the ground – on the Solent practice ground ahead of this weekend’s races.
The record was set within the first hour of the team heading out to the training ground for its first run with a new Boxing Kangaroo logo on the wing.
The top speed smashes the one that the Great Britain team posed just 24 hours before, maxing out at 50.22 knots (93kmh).
Awesome moment
“It was an awesome moment for the crew when we hit the 50-knot mark as it’s been something we’ve been trying to achieve all season,” Slingsby said.
“We were obviously disappointed that Great Britain broke through the barrier first as they hit the water before us, but we were pumped to be able to not only hit the 50-knot mark but actually beat Great Britain's speed and reach 51.24 knots on our
first day on the water.”
However, the Aussies’ day out wasn’t all about celebration. On the way back in, the team stuffed up a low-speed gybe, splitting the fixed wing in two. It is now racing to have the wing repaired in time for this weekend’s match races.
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