The call came after engineers conducted a deep dive into last month’s wingsail collapse aboard Tom Slingsby’s Australian F50 in San Francisco—a failure that, at the time, raised more than a few eyebrows in the tech corridors of SailGP’s headquarters. What they found wasn’t a one-off.
According to SailGP CEO Russell Coutts, a review of the incident revealed a worrying issue "in the bonding of the core material within the shear web" of several wings across the fleet. That basically means those wings could fold under pressure at any time. In that scenario there’s only one responsible play: call a halt to any further racing until the problem gets fixed.
“This is a necessary action to take,” Coutts said in an official statement that felt as much like an engineering bulletin as it did a message to disappointed fans.
“The structural integrity of those wingsails could potentially be compromised. We’ve made the prudent choice to suspend next month’s event, giving us sufficient time to complete repairs and conduct any further investigations.”
Translation: it's a race against the clock to get all 12 high-performance machines flight-ready for the next stop—New York City in early June.
While the news is a gut-punch to Brazilian fans and local organizers—especially considering the buzz around the debut of the Brazil SailGP Team led by Martine Grael—Coutts emphasized that safety trumps all. “We know this is disappointing,” he said, “but the safety of our athletes is our top priority.”
The league has promised full refunds for all Rio ticket holders and says it’s exploring options to reschedule the event. In a nod to its growing global fan base, SailGP also teased the imminent release of the 2026 calendar, with Rio likely to get a redo.
As it stands, the fleet now has an eight-week repair window to reinforce what needs reinforcing, and make sure that when the lights come on again in New York, the boats—and the wings that power them—are ready to deliver racing at full tilt.
Get all areas access to Yacht Racing Life with a Full Membership free 30-day trial. There's no obligation and you can cancel at anytime.
