Viewing SailGP’s Foiling F50 Catamarans From Another Angle

Latitude reader and sometime contributor Lee Panza from Sierra Point Marina, Brisbane, had a different view of SailGP’s F50 catamarans yesterday as he watched them make their way from their base to the open waters of San Francisco Bay for their first practice session ahead of the weekend’s Grand Final.

“They’re back! Those incredible flying machines are here in S.F. Bay again, with the Sail GP season final happening this weekend,” Lee writes.

Have you ever wondered where the F50s set out from, and return to at the end of the race day? “Their base of operations this time is tucked away in Islais Creek, in San Francisco’s industrial area off Third Street,” Lee reveals. “It hardly seems appropriate for these elegant, and uber-expensive, yachts.”

Identifying their location leads us to the next question, asked and also answered by Lee. “So, how do they get them up to the Central Bay race course in the calm of the morning? Why, just tow them — at foiling speed — with those massive outboard motors on their support-boat RIBs.”

“A rather dense fog blew in under the GG Bridge during the day on Thursday, but it magically disappeared around 4 p.m.,” Lee continues. “By 4:30 the racers all scooted back to base to be hauled out of the water for the night (by a really tall crane).

“Thursday was unstructured “playtime,” but on Friday they’ll be doing actual practice racing. These things are amazing to see in action.”

If you haven’t seen these boats flying around the course, get yourself down to the Bay on any or all of these next three days for what is usually a thrilling spectator experience.

Thanks to Lee Panza for sharing his unique view of SailGP. If you have photos and/or a story to share, let us know at [email protected].