The Great Britain SailGP Team were unable to compete in the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix, after sustaining damage to its F50 race boat during practice racing in Copenhagen.

On the final day of practice , the team was completing pre-race training drills when they hit an uncharted rock just outside the racecourse boundary. Damage sustained included snapping the head of the starboard rudder clean off and damage to the starboard daggerboard and board casing.

“We reviewed the damage ashore and unfortunately it has put us out of this event, which is a difficult call for the team. Incidents like this are tough but that’s sport, you’re going to have these moments and the teams that keep their heads up are the ones that come back stronger and that’s what we are going to do. We appreciate all the support from the SailGP Tech Team to retrieve the boat and help repair the damage ready for racing in Saint-Tropez next month.”

Ben Ainslie

The British team will next race in the France Sail Grand Prix Saint-Tropez Friday 11 and Saturday 12 September and look to climb back up the leaderboard having arrived in Denmark in 2nd place overall