The Foil Podcast

In this week’s episode, Freddie Carr, Andy Rice and Neil Cole break down Sydney SailGP – where the USA completed their redemption arc, Slingsby had a few frustrations, and light winds caused a weekend of upsets.

Twelve months ago, Team USA capsized on the tow boat heading to practice in Sydney Harbour. It was rock bottom for a team that couldn't catch a break. Jump forward to this weekend and Taylor Canfield is walking around the tech zone like the main character in an action movie – J/70 World Champion, M32 World Champion, and now a SailGP event winner.

But Sydney wasn't kind to everyone. Tom Slingsby watched Australia's final hopes disintegrate in Fleet Race 7 when a 30-degree left shift turned what was supposed to be a decisive race into what Freddie Carr calls 'the worst SailGP race I've ever seen.' After missing a Sydney final for the first time ever, the Aussie skipper didn't hold back in the mixed zone, calling out race management for moving the start marks inside the final minute – something he says he's never experienced in over 50 SailGP events.

The team also dig into Auckland's uncertain future, with The Ocean Race potentially holding veto power over the venue slot. Russell Coutts is keen to make both events work together – picture IMOCAs and F50s sharing Auckland Harbour in the same weekend – but nothing’s confirmed.

The format discussion comes up too. Reaching starts, windward starts, stadium racing versus harbour tours. When you're locked into a 90-minute broadcast window and the wind doesn't cooperate, you end up with what we saw in Race 7. But does SailGP have enough flexibility to adapt?

Then there's the propulsion debate that almost ended Freddie and Andy's friendship. Electric motors on sailing boats? One of them thinks it's the future. The other thinks it's powerboat racing.

🔗 Read the Sydney review: https://thefoil.com/news/low-breeze-sydney-still-a-welcome-distraction-from-reality/

🔗 Watch the weekend recap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O43YibDBzxQ

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Sydney SailGP is almost here, but the Auckland collision casts a long shadow.

In this week's episode, the team digs into one of the most consequential weekends in SailGP's seven-year history. France skipper Quentin Delapierre joins to fill us in about what happened in Auckland and what comes next. Manon Audinet spent over a week in hospital, and the French team has brought in a psychologist to support their athletes.

Quentin’s message is clear: injuries will happen in extreme sport. The question is how the league responds. Split fleets? Halos? Stronger pods? He believes the answers will come through collaboration – and he won’t be walking away. "I will not quit the league," he says. "I'm fully into it, and I'm focused to win this championship one day. But some of the athletes have concerns, and that’s normal."

The podcast also previews Sydney's twilight racing, where shifty harbour breeze and the tactical puzzle of Shark Island await. With France and New Zealand sidelined, the championship door is open for teams who can seize the moment. Australia and Great Britain are the boats to beat on equal points at the top of the season leaderboard. But lighter winds could create opportunities nobody saw coming.

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Neil Cole is joined by Andy Rice and Freddie Carr, who were both on the spot in Auckland and witnessed the devastating collision between New Zealand’s Black Foils and DS Team France that left two sailors with serious injuries last weekend. Our trio review all the events, from the cause to the effect that led to SailGP splitting the fleet for the final day of racing. But should the organisers have acted sooner? And does this mean a split-fleet future is the right way to go for SailGP?

 

Andy and Freddie disagree on a “line in the sand” regulation change, but converge on other issues including how the final between SailGP’s three champion teams – Australia’s Flying Roos, Emirates GBR and Spain’s Los Gallos crew – offered an upbeat sporting contest to complete what had been a difficult weekend.

 

What do you think about SailGP right now? To ask the team a question for episode eight next week, ahead of the next round in Sydney, drop a comment below.

 

Subscribe now and follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube.

 

 #TheFoil#WeAreTheFoil#SailGP
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“These will be ‘hot laps’ with 12 other world-class teams,” says Freddie Carr as The Foil sets the scene for round two of the 2026 SailGP championship in Auckland, New Zealand this weekend.

 

As Andy Rice tells us, there’s a “pretty heinous forecast for the weekend – a south-south westerly” to greet the crews and keep a bumper crowd on the edge of their grandstand seats. “When you ask those who raced in 2025 which is the toughest,” points out Freddie, “to a man, and to a woman, they say Auckland.” Joined by presenter Neil Cole, Andy and Freddie speculate on whether SailGP will be forced to split the 13-boat fleet this weekend at a “tiny” venue. Andy tips the Black Foils on home territory and Spain’s Los Gallos crew to hit back after their troubles at round one in Perth, while Freddie reckons Sweden’s Team Artemis have gained a head-start via some foiling on AC40s in the region. Whoever prevails, The Foil will be there to witness it and report back.

 

Along with SailGP, Freddie and Andy also wrap up sailing action from all over the world this past week. Freddie reports back from his own racing activities on M32s in Miami; there was some “brilliant racing” from the RC44s in Lanzarote; the Wingfoil World Cup crowned its first champions of the year in Hong Kong; and the team also touches on a new legal spat that’s cast an unwanted new shadow over the America’s Cup.

 

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Last week, The Famous Project crew made history – and Dee Caffari sees it as just the beginning. Freddie Carr sits down with Dee to unpack how eight women became the first all-female crew to complete a non-stop circumnavigation of the globe on a multihull – a 57-day voyage that rewrote the record books despite everything the ocean threw at them.

In this exclusive interview, Caffari reveals the stat that stopped her in her tracks: before this voyage, only three women had ever rounded Cape Horn on a multihull. The Famous Project made that number eleven. She explains why the team's legacy matters more than the time on the clock, how co-skipper Alexia Barrier assembled an international crew of seven nationalities, and what it took to keep pushing through catastrophic gear failures that would have broken lesser teams.

Also in this episode: Andy Rice reports from New Zealand ahead of Auckland SailGP, with updates on the Black Foils' recovery from Perth, the coaching musical chairs at the Kiwi SailGP team, Iain Jensen joining Emirates Team New Zealand, and the latest on whether Season 6 will feature split fleets or 13 boats on one chaotic start line.

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#TheFoil #WeAreTheFoil #OffshoreSailing #SailGP
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