High Performance Sailing, Grand Prix-Style
Fast-foiling catamarans racing across Sydney Harbour, what more could you want!
The photos in this essay show the incredible speed of the F50 foiling catamarans racing in the SailGP series, juxtaposed against the sheer beauty of Sydney Harbour and the luxurious style of many of the boats that came out to watch the February races.
SailGP was founded by Oracle's Larry Ellison, which perhaps explains the closed loop platform upon which the competition is operated. I refer to how some of the tech companies have created closed platforms which they control, absolutely. I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of whether the benefits outweigh the losses (of freedom, for one), but I suspect a tipping point will one day be reached where we see through this type of behavior.
The teams racing in the competition are owned by SailGP, with an 'intention' of taking them private. In addition, the F50 catamarans are one-design and are maintained and operated by SailGP. Technical information is captured and operated by SailGP and Oracle systems are, unsurprisingly, used for data collection and then shared amongst the teams. The argument is that race outcomes are more dependent on ability and skill than on technology, but on the flip side the ultimate beneficiary is rather obvious.
I've tried to represent the scene on Sydney Harbour in these photos more from a meta perspective away from the fray of the race. But hell yeah, I’d have loved to be in an open door helicopter right above the yachts - perhaps next time ;)
:: Rand
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All images copyright Rand Leeb-du Toit 2024.