Australia’s SailGP team suffered a massive collision that forced their retirement from the second annual New Zealand Sail Grand Prix in Christchurch at the weekend.

As Marine Industry News reports, Tom Slingsby and his crew were rocked by the collision with a course mark during the first fleet race on Sunday (24 March) — a so-called ‘Super Sunday’ due to the cancellation of Saturday’s racing over dolphins on the racecourse.

While the crash was a devastating blow for the team, who celebrated victory in their home event last month, it could have been much worse for them and for Canada’s F50 as it was the result of a split-second manoeuvre to avoid a catastrophic clash between the two boats.

“It all happened so quickly but at that moment I knew that we were going to hit Canada, so I had a choice to make and I wanted to keep people safe so I turned the boat as hard as I could into the course mark,” Australia Team driver Slingsby said. “I knew the mark was there but it was either that or go straight through Canada.”

New Zealand’s Peter Burling and crew went on to take the victory in their home race in this ninth round of the SailGP’s fourth season.

Marine Industry News has more on the story HERE.