SailGP: Extreme F50 racing machines make their international debut

The new two-day international yacht racing series pitched six large, super-fast F50 catamarans crewed by international teams against each other for top honours on a harbour course that let the public not only watch the action from spectator points, but also jump on board the boats as they race via live feeds broadcast via large TV screens.

The Aussies finished Saturday’s racing unbeaten in both fleet races, and then storming home 37 seconds ahead of second-placed Japan in the final match race to decide the final points allocation.

The win leaves the Australian team sitting on 48 points, over Japan’s 45, three points clear at the top of the championship scoreboard leading into the San Francisco SailGP in May. Great Britain finished third with 36 points. China, though, set the top speed of 37.4 knots in 14.5 knots of wind.

"I couldn't be happier with how today went,” Australian skipper Tom Slingsby said after Saturday’s final race. “It felt like Nathan was always there and just one mistake away, and if we made that mistake he would have pounced.”

“I hold my team and myself to a very high standard so it’s unbelievable. Jason Waterhouse on tactics, Kyle Langford making sure we had speed, and our grinders Ky Hurst and Sam Newton were always there when we needed them. I was stoked with the way our team sailed and it showed in the results.”

Japan skipper Nathan Outteridge said he was proud of his team’s sailing despite its inexperience.

“We missed a few little things here and there, but if you think about our team, and the fact we’ve only done five days as a sailing team together, the fact that we were racing, let alone made the match race, is incredible,” Outteridge said.

“I think we can only improve. We are still learning the best combinations on the boat. We’re definitely going to improve for San Francisco and the conditions will be very different.”

These sailing craft are like nothing else you've seen before – super large and super fast 50-foot catamarans capable of speeds nudging 100km/h.

The F50 can achieve these amazing speeds by the use of retractable hydrofoils, and it's the speed and the quickly changing leaders that makes them exciting to watch, even if you don’t have any sailing experience.

Apart from their liveries, the boats are exactly the same, with the race wins coming down to the performance of the crew and skipper rather than a technological advantage.

A spectator venue on Shark Island was sold out for both days of the regatta, with fans able to follow all the action as the big cats sailed a course around the island. The event included five “fleet races” involving all six teams, culminating in a match race between the two best boats.

Each catamaran has clearly marked national colours and a flag logo on its wing mast.

The SailGP is a new world tour event that in 2019 goes to five ports – Sydney, San Francisco, New York, Cowes and Marseilles – with the best overall team result taking a $US1 million end-of-season prize purse.

Unlike the America's Cup, Australia has a stake in this event with a team that's already ranked one of the favourites, with Olympic gold medallist sailor Slingsby on the helm.

Fittingly the Aussie boat's colours are the famous Green and Gold. Seeing her on the water on Friday in practice sessions was a stirring sight – even then the team showed itself as one of the quickest on the water.

Ironically, one of the strongest challenges was the Japanese boat with another Australian Olympic gold medallist, Outteridge, on the helm. In practice races on Friday the red and white craft looked quick and capable of winning, and the team took out the first-ever race of the series on Saturday after picking the soft breeze

The F50s are ground-breaking in the world of sailing. They are similar in concept to the AC50 catamarans used in the last 2017 America's Cup round but further refined so they're faster and able to perform over a broader wind range – the boats can swap out to one of three rigs to suit wind conditions.

This event is shaping up to be a challenge to the America's Cup, similar to how cricket’s Big Bash League has switched to a much simpler, compact formula that even people new to the sport can readily understand. SailGP’s trump card is that racing is much closer to the shore, creating a grandstand atmosphere more like car racing than yachting.

The clearly marked national teams – crew restrictions mean most of the sailors on each bota come from the nation they represent – and an Australian entry has certainly helped to boost local interest in this first event. It's decades since Australia had a boat in the America's Cup and 36 years since we made history by being the first to snatch the coveted Auld Mug from the US.

It's still not certain whether Australia will have a challenger in the next America's Cup then the event moves to Auckland in 2021, with New Zealand setting the race up as a battle between foiling monohulls relying on the crew’s brawn rather than stored power. In contrast, the F50s in the SailGP utilise stored power.

The SailGP F50s are not short on technology. Powering them is a 24-metre-tall wing-sail, and once the wind picks up they fly above the water on L-shaped hydrofoils. Similar T-shaped foil technology planned for the next America's Cup will lift the 75-foot foiling monohulls out of the water.

Right now, the F50s are up there with the fastest yachts on the water, and a big improvement in speed over the Cats used in the last America's Cup, with a 15 percent performance gain across most racing conditions compared with the AC50 models.

These new cats have been extensively modified with new foils and board cases, new rudders and elevators, new hydraulics and electronics.

A slim cockpit in each hull takes just five crew. The steering uses a “flight control” joystick. The boats also are designed for easier transport between venues, and to make assembly simple.

The foil rake, cant, wing twist and jib sheet adjustments are battery-powered, making them easier for the crew to adjust. This is a big improvement over the America's Cup boats that will not be allowed to have “stored” power – usually provided by an onboard generator – aboard.

The F50’s wing sail can also be easily adjusted quickly by two crew working two grinding winches.

The foils are made from higher modulus carbon-fibre and the geometry is modified to promote more righting moment and increase the catamaran's speed prior to the onset of cavitations. The lower section of the rudders are made from high-strength stainless steel to reduce drag.

The F50 is also designed to sail over a wide wind range of 4-30 knots. To achieve this the 15-metre F50 has a massive 8.8-metre (28ft 10in) beam. The standard wing mast is 24 metres, but in heavy weather teams can step an 18-metre mast, and for light air venues it can increase to 28 metres.

The crew of five, consisting of helmsman, wing trimmer, flight controller and two grinders. There is a crew weight limit: 438 kilograms (average of 87.5kg a sailor).

Because of the high top speeds and the ever-present danger of capsize, each crew is decked out like they're in a James Bond movie. Crew members wear a safety harness, crash helmet and emergency breather that gives them three minutes of air if caught underwater.

The crew communicates with each other via radio headsets built into their helmets. On-board cameras deliver point-of-view racing, while onboard microphones place race fans right on the race boat, listening in on tactical calls.

Boatsales.com.au was one of the first boating media organisations to see the F50s sailing on their practice day courtesy of Ribco, the RIB brand acting as the official team support for the Australian team.

Australian skipper Tom Slingsby said he needed a support boat that could go as fast, or faster than the race boat, and he was impressed by how these luxury RIBs could safely and comfortably stay with the catamaran, regardless of the water state.

The Ribco 28 that took our media team around the harbour was easily capable of those speeds, with a ride that's far better and drier than other inflatable boats. The biggest boat in the Australian range, the Ribco Venom 44, was also on hand as team support boat – and we know from personal experience this triple-outboard beast can very comfortably hit 60 knots.

The ability of these craft to safely come alongside other boats or docks makes them ideal for crew transfers and camera boats.

Thir speed and engineering sophistication of these rigid-bottom inflatable certainly makes them as much the leaders in their field of power boating as the F50 catamarans.