Ashby breaks leg, France borrows reserve to stay in SailGP race

Glenn Ashby’s Bermuda weekend turned in a single step across the trampoline on the French F50. SailGP said the stand-in wing trimmer for DS Automobiles Team France fell before race two, broke his leg and forced France to scratch from that race, a brutal hit to a crew already juggling injuries and emergency roles.

The damage went beyond one missed start. Australia’s BONDS Flying Roos loaned reserve sailor Tom Needham to France so the boat could return for the final fleet race of the day, a sharp reminder that SailGP’s paddock is as much about survival as speed. Quentin Delapierre called it “tough to see Glenn fall onto the trampoline and break his leg,” said the crew needed to “look forward and try to find solutions,” and praised Needham’s emergency cameo. He added that France would hold “big meetings” after the Grand Prix to reset for the rest of the season.

Ashby’s injury landed with extra force because he was already filling in for Leigh McMillan, who was recovering from shoulder surgery after the Auckland collision. Manon Audinet was still in recovery from that same crash, which had also sidelined the Black Foils and left both teams working through a long injury tail. For France, Bermuda was not just another stop. It was another test of whether the crew could keep its structure intact long enough to race at full speed.

That is what makes the wing trimmer role so unforgiving. The job demands constant movement on a narrow platform, rapid transfers, and instant communication while the boat is flying over the water at pace. When that chain breaks, the effect spreads fast: timing changes, confidence shifts, and the system has to be rebuilt on the fly. In Bermuda, where SailGP said execution is notoriously unforgiving and the foiling is fast by design, one injured sailor was enough to reshape France’s whole day.

The bigger picture was just as sharp. SailGP said France entered Bermuda sixth overall in a championship battle with only a handful of points separating second through sixth, and after the event France sat sixth in the 2026 standings with 25 points. Australia won the Bermuda event and moved ten points clear after five Grands Prix, while New Zealand remained sidelined as repairs continued from Auckland. For France, the lesson was plain: elite foiling campaigns can be undone by one bad landing, and the response has to be more than a replacement name on a roster.