In February this year, the Broadwater was host to the SuperFoiler Event 3 held on the Gold Coast. This leg of the SuperFoiler Grand Prix had its own exciting moments.
In this leg, America’s Cup sailor Paul Campbell-James showed that Euroflex isn’t invincible, with his star international crew aboard iD Intranet taking Race 7 off the series leader at the SuperFoiler Grand Prix’s final day of racing on the Gold Coast.
“It’s bloody nice to take the victory off them and to overtake Euroflex was pretty cool. We clocked 35 knots in that first run and it feels great to end what wasn’t the greatest of weekends for us with a race victory,“ said the British skipper after his iD Intranet team became just the second SuperFoiler to claim a victory in the inaugural circuit.
Paul Campbell-James’ countryman and America’s Cup teammate, Ed Powys, was also pleased that his team was able to snatch a win off Euroflex. “It was more of a relief to be out there racing without dramas and it was a good first race to win,” said iD’s bowman.
The iD crew didn’t have the satisfaction of crossing the line first, given the race was cut short after tech2 became entwined with a marker. “We were mid-capsize, and as we landed, we hooked our rudder. It was a schoolboy error and we take full responsibility for that,” said tech2’s Ayden Menzies.
Astonishingly, tech2, who was in second at the time of the incident, was awarded the second-place points – giving them ten from the race and drawing the ire of her challengers. The general sentiment was that the decision was not fair, and a disqualification was called for.
“I can understand other boats would be annoyed, but we were just sailing within the rules. I’m sure all the skippers will discuss that that’s the great thing about this class,” said Menzies, tech2’s mainsheet hand.
That decision ultimately proved crucial with tech2 holding onto second position on the regatta podium.
Euroflex finished last in the penultimate race of the double points Sunday Supercharge after touching down at speed early in the contest, but went on to secure a win in the final race to celebrate her third straight regatta triumph. “We made a couple of mistakes. But at the end of the day, no one was seriously hurt. I’ve fallen off a couple of times, and I’ve got a couple of bruises, but I’m okay,” said Glenn Ashby after his team’s record of 21 race wins came to an end.
The Gold Coast SuperFoiler standings were – Euroflex (50), tech2 (42), Record Point (36), iD Intranet (31), Pavement (26) and Kleenmaid (24).
Euroflex leads the overall race for the Ben Lexcen trophy by seven points ahead of tech2 and Pavement.
The following races were in Busselton,WA, and Sydney, in March 2018.
About SuperFoiler
Not conforming to any existing geometry, the SuperFoiler brings together aerodynamic and hydrodynamic excellence to create the fastest foil-borne course-racing machine of its size on the planet.
Conceptually progressive, the SuperFoiler is designed from the foils up. Departing traditional limitations, the SuperFoiler is controlled by sophisticated electronic systems (created by a leading Aerospace Engineering firm) enabling the crew to adjust the pitch of the foils and thus the flight stability of the craft. The SF platform incorporates an aerodynamic cross-section “wing” to generate lift and aerodynamic efficiency. It is expected to result in the fastest course-racing machine of its size in the world.
