The Australia SailGP team helmed by Tom Slingsby suffered a stunning wing failure in San Francisco. (AP: SailGP/Felix Diemer)
In short:
The crew of Australia's SailGP boat are unharmed despite their their sail wing sensationally collapsing in San Francisco.
Australia suffered the dramatic wing collapse as they approached the line to begin seventh fleet race of the event.
Driver Tom Slingsby said the incident came as a "shock".
The crew of Australia's SailGP boat are unharmed despite their sail wing sensationally collapsing in San Francisco.
The three-time champions, who have already qualified for the three-boat final at the San Francisco Sail Grand Prix, suffered the dramatic wing collapse as they approached the line to begin the seventh fleet race of the event.
The Flying Roo came to a sudden halt as debris came crashing down onto the boat and into the water.
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Speaking from the water afterwards, Australia driver Tom Slingsby confirmed no team members were injured but the incident was a "shock".
"It was a very scary situation — we're all unharmed and OK, but when something like this happens, you just think, 'Is everyone going to get through this?'"
He added that the team's priority now was ensuring the boat was repaired in time for it to race in Rio in May.
"We've got to save the boat as much as we can," he said.
"Obviously the results and points are what they are. We're not concerned about that. It's just about saving the boat."
The cause of the incident is not yet clear. The wing collapsed just above the lower section, in a similar fashion to the New Zealand boat in St Tropez in Season 4, which caused that team to miss two events.
With Australia out, France gained entry to the final against Spain and Canada.
Spain, the defending series champions, won the final to claim their first victory of the season.
Despite the heavy blow, Australia moved to the top of the championship table with 39 points, one point ahead of Britain, which finished seventh because it could not bounce back after splashing down in the sixth race.
ABC/AP/Reuters
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