Chasing catamarans at 40mph (and feeling queasy) at SailGP's Portsmouth Grand Prix

New York Times

5 days ago

It was impossible to miss the dejected French team sitting on a wall — still in their wetsuits and life jackets — just before boarding a rigid inflatable boat (RIB) ahead of the third and fourth races of Saturday's Portsmouth SailGP Grand Prix.
The France SailGP team, whose investors include Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe and had secured back-to-back podiums in the previous two grands prix in San Francisco and New York, did not even make it to the starting line due to damage to their 24-metre wing sail.
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SailGP, a close-to-shore sailing championship, is a new sport in its fifth season, and with that comes teething problems. There are no spare catamarans, so there have been several occasions this season in which a team has been unable to compete because of various issues — France had to sit out the first two events of the season in Dubai and Auckland while their new F50 racing boat was still being built.
But at the start of the day, who could have anticipated The Athletic would have a more successful afternoon on the English Channel than the French in chase of the 11 other teams which had made it to the start line?
After completing a safety briefing, the French team (and dry land) were soon in the rearview mirror, with the RIB leaving Camber Quay for the Solent, a narrow straight between mainland Britain and the Isle of Wight. It is a stretch of water with history, as this was where Queen Victoria would often watch yachting races and regattas.
The Portsmouth Grand Prix is the seventh of 12 events on this season's calendar, which will culminate in November in Abu Dhabi, and is the start of the European leg of the championship.
Though F50s can reach speeds of over 50 knots (57.5mph; 92.6 kilometres an hour), our journey began at a relatively low speed; ferries taking passengers to the island just off the south coast needed to be avoided, as did dozens of privately owned boats that had lined the edge of the course. But then we entered the exclusion zone, a mass of water encompassing the course, and even in light wind conditions, the next 20 minutes were not for the faint of heart.
The third race of the day — a grand prix that consists of two days of racing of multiple heats before a winner-takes-all showdown on a Sunday between the three top-ranked teams — was won by New Zealand and was already under way by the time The Athletic made it into the exclusion zone. Immediately, it was clear how quickly the foiling catamarans were travelling once they were above the water.
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A whistling noise, generated by the vibrating foils, pierced the wind as the Brazil team made a turn and headed back downwind to finish the race.
Providing expert analysis throughout on this sport — which has been likened to Formula One on water — was Hattie Rogers, a 25-year-old who is one of the world's best foiling sailors and hopes to one day compete in SailGP.
After the third race had ended — each race lasts a maximum of 16 minutes — The Athletic's boat made its way to where most of the F50s had gathered. Each team was quickly joined by their support boat ahead of the fourth and final race of the afternoon.
Circling above were two helicopters, capturing the action for the TV coverage. A boat that was able to keep pace with the F50s was filming the race, too.
It was at this moment that Rogers informed everyone on board that we were going to chase the boats from the start to the first mark on the course — a message that could be translated to 'Hold on!'.
Launching out of a timed start, the fleet can accelerate at speeds close to 100kmh as they converge on Mark 1; getting there first gives a team a huge advantage before they head downwind for two laps of the course.
As the 10,000-strong crowd counted down from 10, we quickly found ourselves trying to keep pace with the F50s — but even reaching speeds of 35 knots (40mph) wasn't enough to stay with the 11 teams.
The wind pounded against my face as I attempted to look straight ahead, turning me temporarily into a Wallace and Gromit character. To shield myself, I moved my head to the left and right for split seconds at a time. One person on board was left feeling somewhat queasy as the RIB ripped through the water.
To watch the athletes on board dart from one side of the F50 to the other at speed brought home the physicality of this sport. They had already completed three 12-minute races in relatively quick succession, but still had the energy to sprint nearly 10 metres across a moving boat.
The Australian team, now owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman and led by Tom Slingsby, an Olympic and America's Cup champion, had built up a solid lead.
But there was an incredibly close call with the Great Britain team, which even caused Rogers to wince. Rogers was quick to explain that any penalty would have to be taken on the water and that Britain would be asked to slow down if one was given.
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Britain weren't penalised and managed to hold off the Italian team to finish second, capping off a good day's work on home waters. They won the first race in front of a roaring crowd, and followed that up with two second-place finishes and a third-place finish.
As the Flying Roos celebrated their win, the RIB made its way back to Camber Quay, where we, along with several other boats, were instructed by the harbourmaster to wait until a ferry had docked before proceeding forward.
After the thrill of chasing the F50s, it was a reminder that the Isle of Wight ferry waits for no one.