Spain's Los Gallos SailGP team has confirmed its withdrawal from the upcoming Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix after sustaining significant damage during a practice session in Fremantle on Thursday.
The team's F50 boat incurred board case, board, and hull damage following a nosedive incident off Bathers Beach. The conditions during the practice race included winds gusting up to 40 km/h and large waves.
No athletes were injured in the crash. However, the impact necessitated the team's immediate retirement from the racing event.
SailGP's Tech Team recovered the damaged boat and initiated a full investigation to assess the extent of the damage.
Driver Diego Botin stated, "We had damage around both board cases during a gybe in the second practice race. In the middle of the gybe, during the turn, the board case snapped and we had quite a big crash. The board case is damaged, the board is damaged and also the hull."
Botin acknowledged the efforts made to minimize damage from the racecourse to the shore, placing the responsibility for repairs in the hands of the Tech Team, expressing confidence in their ability to resolve the issues quickly.
This incident marks the second for the event, following Artemis wing trimmer Chris Draper's facial injuries in a similar training crash in Perth.