Emirates Great Britain have sent a message to the fleet with a commanding title defense – claiming a season-opening victory in the Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix, presented by KPMG. The Brits ruled the waves on day two, defeating the Bonds Flying Roos and DS Team France, respectively, in a Fremantle day that left no margin for error. Battling steep waves and 45 km/h gusts of wind, Emirates GBR driver Dylan Fletcher called the conditions “Absolutely incredible. This is why we came to Perth,” he continued, “To Fremantle, for the Doctor.”

Heading into the Final, Emirates GBR executed perfectly through the start – holding off a hard-pushing French crew as the Bonds Flying Roos were forced behind due to a pre-start boundary penalty. Despite their advances, Fletcher stayed ahead of his rivals – staying calm and sailing clean to gain a comfortable lead and sweep across the line first.

Rolling the dice, a decision by Quentin Delapierre to split away from the others heading into the penultimate leg spelled disaster for DS Team France, who were defeated on the final reach after a late burst of speed from the Bonds Flying Roos.

After his 2025 Season Grand Final triumph just over one month ago, Fletcher said he was on “cloud nine” after claiming victory in the Perth opener.

Fletcher said, “It’s been an incredible start for the team here in Perth,” Fletcher said. “We left a lot out there, with plenty still to work on, but I’m really proud of how the team has been chipping away each day. We had a disappointing start yesterday and didn’t get the results we wanted but we came out firing today, and I’m stoked with the result.”

Emirates GBR strategist Hannah Mills said, “We’ve had Stu come on board as wing trimmer which is a big dynamic shift. We’re really proud of how the team has come together this week – we kept a learning mindset and then put it into practice when we went racing. It doesn’t get much better than that, especially in Perth. It’s our flight controller’s hometown and for us to go out there with the Doctor coming in strong, amazing breeze and a bit of chop, it made it tricky to race the boats but it delivered phenomenal racing.”

Despite missing out on an opening home victory, Bonds Flying Roos driver Tom Slingsby said the day was “amazing.”

Slingsby said, “I think Fremantle should be the final. It caused a bit of chaos and some damage as we are headed into the second event of the season, but I think this would be the best final venue. Imagine doing that three-boat final for a couple of million bucks – I think that’s how we should do it in the future.”

The Australians welcomed a late crew change – sail racing veteran Glenn Ashby – who stepped in for Iain ‘Goobs’ Jensen following an injury in training on Thursday.

Slingsby commented, “The hardest part is that Glenn hasn’t sailed in those conditions before. He hasn’t sailed with the 18-meter wing, T-foils, or any of that, so it’s really about supporting him and helping him through it. Goobs was in the coaching box, sitting there calling different things and bringing us into the start — he did a great job helping out. Glenn did such an amazing job stepping in on a couple of days’ notice, and getting a result like that for our team and his country. He’s stoked to be racing for Australia, so it’s an awesome result for us and for him.”

Emirates GBR were the form team of the day – claiming back-to-back victories in fleet races five and six. Throughout, Fletcher only moved forward – not back – showing he can pick his way through the fleet in even the most challenging conditions. In the seventh and final qualifying fleet race of the day, the Northstar SailGP Team sailed away with the win and a 20-second lead – but it was too little, too late for Giles Scott ’s Canadian crew, who finished sixth on the event leaderboard.

Despite entering the day in pole position, newcomers Artemis missed out on a spot in their first event final after finishing 6th, 4th and 11th in the final three qualifying fleet races of the weekend. Artemis finished the weekend fourth overall – a result driver Nathan Outteridge is “really proud” of.

Outteridge said, “Fourth is an awesome result. It’s always hard to go from leading to missing the podium on day two. I’m really proud of the team – what a result. If you’d told me four months ago that we’d be fighting for the podium and winning races, I would have taken that. It hurts a bit today, especially the way it happened with a terrible start in the last fleet race, but it was a great weekend and the team did an amazing job.”

While Championship Sunday didn’t quite go their way – finishing 9th, 8th, 9th in the day’s fleet races – the U.S. SailGP Team sit fifth in the standings, with all the points tallied.

U.S driver Canfield said, “It wasn’t our best day execution-wise. We’re disappointed for sure, but we made some great strides. It’s not that we weren’t comfortable sailing in those conditions — we just made a few silly errors. It was a long day, but good progress. We definitely have a solid base in the big breeze now, and we’re super pleased with that, as it was one of the areas we wanted to improve.”

The first of 13 events on the 2026 Season calendar, the Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix presented by KPMG has set the bar high, according to league CEO and co-founder Sir Russell Coutts. Almost 15,000 watched from the sold-out Race Stadium at Bathers Beach.

Coutts said, “Perth’s SailGP debut has exceeded expectations – with incredible racing and conditions built for the sport’s very best. The support we’ve had from the local community and our partners at Tourism Western Australia has been outstanding. With a sold-out Race Stadium and incredible engagement in the very first year – we can’t wait to be back in 2027, 2028 and hopefully for many years to come.”

Next month, the most exciting racing on water returns to another fan-favorite venue – Auckland, New Zealand (February 14-15). It will be a race against time to ensure the Black Foils make the startline, with extensive repairs needed after yesterday’s race one collision with the Swiss. Spain is expected to compete after their damage, sustained during a practice nosedive earlier in the week.

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Emirates Great Britain won it all on the Arabian Gulf, defeating the BONDS Flying Roos and New Zealand’s Black Foils to become the third-ever winner of the Rolex SailGP Championship.

The victory caps off a remarkable year for Dylan Fletcher and crew, who shaped one of the strongest performance arcs of the season – starting with the double Olympic gold medalist’s return last November in Dubai. Where other teams may have faltered, the Brits’ rose – picking up more event wins (three), fleet race wins (11), and fleet race podiums (24) than any other crew.

Celebrating on shore, Fletcher said, “Everything was incredibly stressful – like we were up against the best sailors in the world. Even though the Grand Final teams hadn’t performed great this weekend, we were all managing our own little battles ourselves. So when it came down to it – I think you saw testament to how close it is at the top. Any one of us could have won that race and I’m very happy it was us.” 

In a title fight that stayed alive to the very last breath, the winner-takes-all Grand Final race kept fans on the edge of their seat – with each team taking the lead at least once in the nine-minute showdown. While the BONDS Flying Roos led the sprint to mark one, they were quickly hunted down by New Zealand, who had managed to gain a 100-meter lead at the mid-way point of the final race.

But Fletcher wasn’t done – clawing his way back from third to overhaul the BONDS Flying Roos and Black Foils on the fourth leg of the winner-takes-all shootout. On the final reach to the finish, Slingsby gave the Roo Crew one final push, sailing past New Zealand to cross the line in second.

Emirates GBR are the first team to top both the Rolex SailGP Championship and Impact League standings in a single season.

Team principal and CEO Sir Ben Ainslie said, “I’m so proud of the team, both on and off the water. It’s been a long season with plenty of highs and lows, but to finish in such strong fashion — to win the Impact League, win the season outright, and then win the Grand Final — it’s a huge achievement. The team has been brilliant.”

It was another Grand Final heartbreak for trans-Tasmal rivals Australia and New Zealand – the second time Australia has been beaten in the race that decides it all, and the third crushing defeat for New Zealand. After a disappointing series of fleet race results on Saturday and Sunday, Spain were unable to edge Australia for a chance to defend their Season 4 crown.

BONDS Flying Roos Driver Tom Slingsby looked on the bright side, “We have so much to be proud of with our team – the franchise and our team is incredibly strong. We’ve got unbelievable people involved from the shore team to the sailors and everyone behind the scenes – we have an unbelievable squad and I’m thankful that we are part of an incredible team.” Slingsby continued, “It’s a quick turnaround and we are back in Perth and we start all over again and try to get our title back.”

While the Black Foils Peter Burling conceded, “We’re all definitely hurting right now, but that’s what you want in these situations. If the team didn’t care about what we’re doing and the mission we’re on, we wouldn’t feel the hurt we’re feeling now. Super close, but the cards didn’t quite go our way this time.”

Burling continued, “It’s hard for us — this is our third opportunity. We’ve won well over 50% of the finals we’ve been in, but we still haven’t managed to win a Grand Final. It’s incredibly tough when the whole season comes down to one shifty 10-minute race. There’s some frustration on our end, but we’ve got to be proud of the race and the season we put together.”

The day also marked a historic milestone for ROCKWOOL Racing, who claimed their first event win, leading the fleet through the six qualifying fleet races which shaped the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix 2025 Season Grand Final, presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council. The Danes’ become the eighth winner of the 2025 Season – the Rolex SailGP Championship’s most competitive to date.

ROCKWOOL Racing driver Nicolai Sehested said, “We’ve been in a lot of Finals and come so close so many times, so it’s good to get it off our backs – it’s been hanging there for a while. In the team base you could smell it for a long time. Hopefully this is a new beginning for us, where we can clear our minds, reset and just go racing.

With their names now etched in Rolex SailGP history, Emirates GBR pocketed $2.4 million in prize money this weekend alone – claiming $2 million for the Grand Final race and an additional $400K for highest season points. Across the season, Emirates GBR picked up a staggering $4.4 million, while the Black Foils earned $1.76 million and Australia $1.2 million.

Wishing the 2025 Season winners well, SailGP CEO and co-founder Sir Russell Coutts said, “An enormous congratulations to Emirates GBR – our 2025 Season Rolex SailGP Champions.”

Coutts continued, “The 2025 Season has been SailGP’s most competitive to date, with new teams making their mark and established powers pushed like never before. Throughout, Emirates GBR has provided one of the most compelling performances of the season – so it’s only fitting they finish the year on top, beating the world’s best.”

Elsewhere in the fleet, battle lines were drawn – with just under two months until the 2026 Season begins in a new venue. The Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix presented by KPMG will unfold in January 17-18, 2026 with 13 teams, the largest fleet in SailGP history.

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SailGP’s fifth season is racing toward its finale in Abu Dhabi, but there was little racing to be had at the ROCKWOOL France Sail Grand Prix in Saint-Tropez as storms forced the cancellation of racing and leaving organizers to dole out the points based on one day’s racing. The SailGP media team provides the following update. The US SailGP team, which showed signs of improvement in several races, did not pick any points in Saint Tropez and remains in the negative on the season scorecard. SailGP’s media team provides the weekend report:

Thunderstorms Toss A Wrench

The second day of racing at the ROCKWOOL France Sail Grand Prix in Saint-Tropez was cancelled due to forecast thunderstorms expected to impact the area during scheduled racing. Leading the fleet after day one, Dylan Fletcher’s Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team were awarded the event win, picking up a full 10 season points, followed by Peter Burling’s Black Foils in second (9 points), and Diego Botin’s Spain SailGP Team in third (8 points). The shortened French SailGP event mark Emirates GBR’s second consecutive victory in Saint-Tropez—the last was in Season 4 back in September 2023.

Emirates GBR driver Dylan Fletcher said, “We’re absolutely stoked to have finished top after the first day, it was a great day of racing on the 18-meter wings. We’re just looking forward to Geneva now. It’s disappointing not to be out there today, but Geneva is going to be fantastic.” 

With only two events remaining until the winner-takes-all Grand Final in Abu Dhabi, team strategist Hannah Mills said, “Anything can happen in the last three events, and to be in the mix of the top three is all we could have hoped for at the start of the season.” Mills continued, “We’re excited for the rest of it. Obviously, we’re gutted for the fans that we can’t race today, but what a day it was yesterday.” 

Next Stop Geneva

With the weekend results tallied, Emirates GBR moves into second on the overall Rolex SailGP Championship standings, while New Zealand takes the top spot with 70 season points. The BONDS Flying Roos drop to third (67 points) after a disappointing fifth place finish. Spain, who finished third on the event leaderboard, have now closed in on the podium group (fourth overall with 64 points), while the gap widens for France and Northstar Canada, fifth and sixth respectively.

The weekend’s abrupt end was frustrating for Quentin Delapierre, who finished sixth after a challenging first day on home waters. Delapierre said: “It’s obviously disappointing and frustrating not to be able to race today. We were hoping to put on a show with results that reflected the energy and passion of the SailGP fans here in Saint-Tropez.”

He continued, “Congratulations to Emirates Great Britain on their win, and to all the teams for the high level of competition delivered in such tricky conditions yesterday. And a big thank you to our partners, the city of Saint-Tropez, and all the fans who came out this weekend.”

The most exciting racing on water returns in one week’s time, with SailGP’s long-awaited debut in Switzerland. The Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix begins next Saturday September 20, 2025, unfolding over two action-packed days on the waters of Lake Geneva. The Switzerland SailGP Team will compete for the first time on home waters, supported by sold-out crowds cheering from the waterside Race Stadium.

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In a stunning weekend comeback, the France SailGP Team claimed their first event win of the 2025 Season, bouncing back from near-disaster in practice to beat Australia’s BONDS Flying Roos and Emirates GBR in an action-packed winner-takes-all Final.

In a victory driver Quentin Delapierre called, “super special” Les Bleus move into fifth on the Rolex SailGP Championship standings, while Emirates GBR jockeys into third ahead of Spain, now fourth. Australia and New Zealand sit first and second, respectively, tied on points with 61 each.

Celebrating the win, Delapierre, who began the weekend in hospital after the team’s rudder broke in practice, said: “We knew we had to deliver our best performance this weekend – with focus on tactics, strategy and, yeah, a bit of luck.”

It was not the first high-stakes incident for the French crew, which also missed out on last month’s Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix when the team’s wing sail snapped just moments before racing.

“This win was super special – for the CEOs, our management, partners and the athletes of course,” Delapierre added. “As I said at the press conference, it’s been a while since we won an event at SailGP. It’s always a special feeling.”

France, which last topped the event podium in Season 3, is now the sixth team to win an event this season.

Competing in their first event Final since March (Los Angeles), Australian driver Tom Slingsby had a strong weekend, finishing top three in all but one race. Slingsby said: “Since the wing collapsed in San Francisco, we feel like we haven’t been able to get back in there, so this weekend, we’re really glad with how we sailed.”

Emirates GBR also showed grit and resilience, dominating with back-to-back wins in fleet races 5 and 6 less than 24 hours after a shocking collision with the US SailGP team appeared to put the team’s weekend in the balance.

The Americans, at fault for the port-starboard collision which occurred while they were attempting to duck behind the British F50, did not sail the weekend’s remaining races. Video from the race shows crewmember Andrew Campbell advising skipper Taylor Canfield through he maneuver, the duck was not enough. The US boat’s port bow was sheared off as it collided with the British team’s rudder and port stern section.

“After an encouraging start to the Germany Sail Grand Prix, the U.S. SailGP Team was involved in contact with Emirates Great Britain in Race 4,” said a team statement issued after racing, “resulting in race-ending damage for both boats. We understand this is the nature of our sport and are relieved no one was injured.”

SailGP’s technical shore team repaired the British boat overnight, scarfing a section from the US team’s boat and returning them to the racecourse in time for the final day of racing.

Thanking on-shore teams for the overnight repair, British driver Dylan Fletcher said: “You wouldn’t believe it – an absolutely unbelievable effort to ensure our team could race today, so this really goes out to them.”

The conditions on Championship Sunday marked a notable change from the fast and furious racing on day one in Sassnitz.  Light, shifty breeze called for tactical racing, in which teams unafraid to take risks were rewarded with strategic gains across the course. Those left in the back found themselves struggling in disturbed air.

Despite missing out on his first home final, driver Erik Kosegarten-Heil said he was pleased with the Germany SailGP, presented by Deutsche Bank, team’s weekend results – a fifth overall. “For sure the event gives us some confidence,” he said. “We worked really hard on many things here, between events and, really, all year. It’s nice to see some things turn around slowly and I’m really looking forward to the next couple of events.”

The US SailGP did not pocket any points for the regatta, nor did Mubadala Brazil, which suffered catastrophic structural damage to their boat on the practice day as a result of a high-speed nose-dive.

—Report provided by SailGP Media

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It was not to be for Dylan Fletcher’s Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team as Peter Burling’s Black Foils cinched victory in Portsmouth, England, advancing New Zealand to the top of the 2025 Season leaderboard. Fletcher came away with a respectable second-place, while Sebastian Schneiter’s Swiss SailGP Team finished third in the team’s first-ever event final.

Taking to the winners’ podium, Burling commended his team’s performance: “It was nice racing out there. We were riding some pretty challenging conditions and to pull off today, as a group, we’re super pleased. Going into the European series as the winners is something we’re really proud of and we’re looking forward to continuing to build on that. I’m really pleased with the way we fought today.”

In a showdown on the Solent, Burling’s team showed the fleet just who’s back in charge, after the nail-biting three-boat final had Switzerland, Emirates GBR and New Zealand all jostling for the top spot throughout the duration of the shortened-course sprint final. It marks the second time New Zealand has stolen the Brits’ home victory—Burling’s team beat Sir Ben Ainslie’s in Plymouth in Season 3.

Emirates GBR Hannah Mills reflected: “Obviously, we’re pretty gutted not to win. We felt like this weekend, everyone was sailing so well, so to not quite manage to do it in the final is obviously super disappointing. But I think as a team, we’re just so proud of how we bounced back after a couple of rough events. And just to do it here, we’re so very proud – we heard how loud it was, it was amazing.”

Despite finishing last in the final – stopped in the final moments of the race due to technical issues on board – Seb Schneiter’s Switzerland still had plenty to celebrate. Throughout the day, the team held their own against Tom Slingsby’s BONDS Flying Roos, hunting down the Swiss in a tight battle for third.

Schneiter said, “I’m super proud and happy to make our first final – I think we deserve it. We worked really hard as a team, and we sailed well all weekend. It’s a shame to end up having to stop that final with some technical issues, but we had an awesome start – we showed up, we were there, and now I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Perhaps the most impressive comeback story of the weekend was the France SailGP Team’s return to the startline after a major wing incident ruled them out of Saturday’s racing. An overnight repair job from the SailGP Tech Team put France back on the startline just 24 hours later, and straight onto the racecourse – the team picked up 19 points for the weekend and two podium finishes – a first and second in fleet races 6 and 7, respectively.

Driver Quentin Delapierre’s France said, “Happy to get out racing but super strange to get directly onto the racetrack after docking out at 50 knots… pretty scary! If we weren’t in racing mode, we’d be thinking too much about the wing failure and what can happen, so it was cool to get those three races, but unfortunately, a really bad result for us. It is what it is and the season isn’t over.”

All 12 national teams battled choppy waters, racecourse obstacles and a number of technical issues forcing speedy, pit-lane repairs. Australia missed out on their second-consecutive event final – a result driver Tom Slingsby said he was “not happy” about – while usual heavyweights Spain also finished sixth on the weekend leaderboard. With the results tallied, New Zealand moves into the top spot on the overall championship standings, bumping Australia to second and Spain to third. Emirates GBR remains in fourth, but has closed the gap – now just one point away from the podium group.

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The Spanish SailGP team triumphed once again in San Francisco, defeating NorthStar Canada and France SailGP Team, respectively, to become the fifth winner in five events this season. Despite a catastrophic wing collapse onboard Australia’s F50 at the start of race seven of the Oracle Sail Grand Prix in San Francisco, the Australians moves into first overall in the season standings.

In the three-boat final race that closed out a race-packed weekend, the French F50 helmed by Quentin Delapierre, hit the line flying, surging ahead to win the sprint to mark one. But after splitting the course at the second gate towards favorable current and wind, the Spanish raced away with the lead and the win.

Celebrating her first win of the season, Los Gallos strategist Nicole van der Velden said, “It feels amazing to win. It was super tight racing and we were really happy with our weekend, to come out on top and get into the final.”

Van der Velden continued, “We were feeling quite confident with how we were sailing and how we were starting, so super happy to finish it off well in the final. It’s great to get two-for-two in San Francisco. Now, a little bit of celebration and back to focus for the next event.”

Absent from the podium race was the Australia SailGP Team, which finished third on points after race seven, but was unable to compete after the stunning wing collapse, which resulted in a destroyed wing sail but no injuries reported for the sailing team.

“It’s heartbreaking,” helmsman Tom Slingsby said, “Obviously the results and the points are what they are, but we’re not even concerned about that. Just save the boat the best we can, everyone is safe and we’ve got a lot of work to do here.”

With salvage underway, SailGP teams will now begin an in-depth analysis to determine what caused the incident. “We’ve got to go look at the camera angles,” Slingsby said. “It was obviously close to the other boats, we need to determine if it was a wing failure, or was there something else at play? Did we make an error, or did the boat fail?”

In the opening fleet race of the second day of the regatta (race five), France’s Quentin Delapierre and his teammates were sharp with their speed and maneuvers to win the race, but incurred a post-finish penalty for interfering with Emirates GBR – still racing. The pentalty point bumped Les Bleus to second in the event standings and the Swiss SailGP Team advanced into first.

The Spanish team took the win in fleet race six ahead of Australians and New Zealand. While the New Zealanders won the next, it wasn’t enough for the Black Foils after a mixed weekend for the team. “We’re a little frustrated to be honest,” said helmsman Peter Burling. “When we put it all together, we were there this weekend, but not quite enough to get into the final. It wasn’t meant to be.”

New Zealand finished fifth on the event leaderboard, which has them moving down to fourth overall. Emirates GBR finished seventh in the regatta – a weekend in which driver Dylan Fletcher said felt like the team “couldn’t catch a break.”

With the points tallied, Emirates GBR moves from first to second in the championship standings.

Coming in last in the event standings, U.S. SailGP Team flight controller Hans Henken expressed his disappointment: “We didn’t get the result we wanted here. We put in a lot of work leading into San Francisco – a lot of those things are going on behind the scenes but the results don’t show it. Obviously, we need to go back and put more work into it. The story is not over, we’re continuing to push really hard.”

In his post-race interview, US SailGP Team’s Taylor Canfield hinted at mechanical errors with the boat’s jib-sheet lead system on the second day, but back-of-the-fleet finishes on the first day of the regatta pointed to continued challenges facing the team as it comes to grips with the boat and the tight racecourses. While most of the US teams were starts were good, it was their exit position from the course’s first reach mark and the first boundary jibe that often put them into vulnerable and high-traffic situations. “Super frustrating,” was Canfield’s assessment. “We’ll have to clean up our act for the next one.”

The next event in Rio de Janiero in May where the Australians will hope to be back online with a replacement wing and the Danish sailors of Rockwool Team Denmark back with a repaired boat from damages in Los Angles that sidelined them entirely from the San Francisco regatta.

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With lighter winds on the second and final day of SailGP’s Los Angeles stop, the racecourse was shrunk to an astonishingly small theater for the 11 F50s. With barely 600 meters between the leeward and windward marks there was little to no room for error and even less for pulling off perfect maneuvers. With teams required to sail four-up, the racing was purely manic and luck-laden for all—except, of course, the one team capable of pulling off a winning start.

The first day was equally frantic in the Port of Los Angeles with full foiling conditions and 12 teams crammed onto stadium-style racecourse (there were 12 until Denmark’s Team Rockwool took itself out of the regatta in the first race after clipping a leeward mark with its port T-foil). And it was consistency on the first day that ultimately put Northstar Canada in position to claim its first regatta win of the 2025 Season.

The Canadian team’s British helmsman Giles Scott, his fellow countryman and veteran wing trimmer Paul Campbell-James, flight controller Billy Gooderham, and strategist Annie Haeger (past US Olympic 470 sailor) were the foursome that delivered a decisive win in the three-boat finale after catching and then passing New Zealand’s Black Foils team with impressively smooth boathandling in the marginal foiling conditions. The Canadians posted the best fly time (99 percent) in the Final.

The surprising of the weekend was that of the Australian SailGP’s team’s uncharacteristic struggles. They were third in the fleet race standings after seven races, but were promptly shot out the back at the start in the Final.

“I forgot how to start today,” said skipper Tom Slingsby. “Starts were a real problem for me. It’s amazing how that can go from your biggest strength to your biggest weakness in a matter of weeks. While our results are good for season standings, we came here to win.”

Emirates GBR, the season leader, came on strong on Sunday, winning two of three races to almost make the Final. In the seventh race the Australians denied them a place in the Final with a miraculous pass of the American team on the short final leg into the finish.

“It was certainly a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions after we crossed the finish line with the win in that last race,” said skipper Dylan Fletcher. “We thought the Americans had done it and they were going to take the Aussies, but they said they stuffed their last tack which left it open, hats off to the Aussies they did a great job in that race. It’s obviously disappointing to miss out on the final by just one point, but I’m really proud of how the team came out swinging today.”

New Zealand’s Black Foils dominated the first two fleet races of the regatta, picking up where they left off at the previous event in Sydney, but they too had their struggles when trying to claw back places after a few poor starts. Still, finishing second in fleet races had them sliding into the Final as the favorite. They slingshot off the starting line and appeared to run away with the win, but the Canadians simply sailed a better race with cleaner maneuvers and overtook them halfway through the six-leg race.

The Canadian win in LA shuffled the middle of the leaderboard, moving Northstar from sixth to fourth and the Black foils from fourth to third behind Australia and Emirates GBR.

The U.S. SailGP Team, which finished ninth overall, picked up their second event point of the season. Improved results in Saturday’s windy races buoyed hopes of a better final result, but Sunday’s races knocked them to ninth overall. The team’s strategist and CEO Mike Buckley said they were disappointed in the results. They didn’t have the best starts, he added, but it “showed showed we could pass boats around the racecourse.”

The fleet heads to San Francisco for the second regatta of the US “doubleheader with racing scheduled for March 22-23.

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Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team claimed its first 2025 Season victory on Championship Sunday in Sydney. The win was also a first for helmsman Dylan Fletcher after a hard-fought three-boat showdown against the Northstar Canada SailGP Team, which finished second, and hometown favorites, Australia in third.

Much of the Final saw Fletcher jostle for first with the man he replaced at the start of the season – Canadian helmsman and double Olympic gold medalist, Giles Scott. Fletcher claimed a narrow defeat, rounding the last mark just meters ahead of Scott to claim victory in front of thousands of cheering fans watching from Shark Island and the official spectator fleet.

Celebrating, Fletcher said, “Personally it’s massive where we’ve come – from the start of SailGP in 2019, where I began my journey. To return and win here is amazing. I’m just really proud of the whole team and how they’ve included me.”

Emirates Great Britain Team CEO Sir Ben Ainslie agreed: “What an amazing race,” he said, continuing, “I’m so proud of them. Dylan has done brilliantly – he’s world class and that’s why we wanted to get him into this game. He’s got a top team around him and what’s impressive is how quickly he’s gelled into this group.” 

Conceding the loss of his home title, Australia SailGP Team helmsman Tom Slingsby said, “Honestly, the British did a really good tack on us up that first beat. Their timing was perfect. We’ve been sailing so well as a team, and have a lot to be proud of. I’m just sorry to the fans. I think everyone thought we were a shoe in, but it didn’t quite go our way and that’s sport.” 

The Australians finished on the podium in every race this weekend, showing clearly that they remain one of the league’s form teams. SailGP once again adopted its ‘Super Sunday’ format in Sydney – three 11-boat fleet races followed by a winner-takes-all final. The first fleet race went to the Brits, with Fletcher taking an early lead, sailing to victory ahead of the Kiwis in second and Australia in third.

In Fleet Race 6, the Black Foils took their first race win of the weekend ahead of Canada and Australia but it wasn’t enough to keep the Kiwis in the hunt after a disappointing opening day, in which the team accumulated just 7 points on the event leaderboard. New Zealand came eighth in Sydney, bumping the team off the podium and into fourth in the overalls.

In the seventh and final Fleet Race of the weekend, Denmark once again narrowly missed out in a tight battle for third, with the Black Foils playing spoiler for the Danish crew, twice forcing additional maneuvers, causing the crew to struggle to keep up, falling behind the Canadians.

Rockwool Denmark SailGP Team helmsman Nicolai Sehested said, “It’s a bit frustrating missing out on another final. We made some mistakes, but we’re happy that we can finish fourth in a weekend that feels good for us.” 

With the points from Sydney now tallied, Emirates Great Britain has bolstered in the Rolex SailGP 2025 Season leaderboard, with 27 points. Australia is now second overall with 24 points and Spain rounds out the podium in third with 20 points.

The US SailGP Team did not race the event after capsizing before the regatta and causing extensive damage to the team’s wing.

Next up, all eyes turn to the U.S. slate of events – a triple header in Los Angeles (March 16-17, 2025), San Francisco (March 23-24, 2025) and New York (June 8-9, 2025) – plus an iconic first stop in the stunning Rio de Janeiro, May 4-5, 2025.

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SailGP USA’s Mike Buckley says the training day ahead of SailGP’s Sydney regatta this weekend dawned with a renewed focus and anticipation of a reboot after finishing last in Auckland less than a month ago. But as the hours rolled on, so too did the proverbial snowball. With technical issues onboard the F50 they were delayed getting off the mooring and underway, and then in a rush to the racecourse under a high-speed tow, they were caught off guard and quickly capsized. The resultant damage was significant enough to put an end to their race weekend.

“We were well behind trying to get to the practice start,” Buckley said on a media call late on Friday EST. “As we turned the corner to go under the bridge, a puff hit—we didn’t have a jib up—and unfortunately led to a capsize.”

The damage is beyond immediate repair, he added, so there will be no racing for the American team.

“A series of events usually lead to a situation like this,” Buckley said. “And looking back in hindsight kept me up thinking about the what ifs, but that’s not the way life works and it’s not the way this league works.”

Ahead of a full damage assessment from the league’s technical team, Buckley or Canfield could not elaborate on the extent of the damage, but footage post-recovery confirmed significant wing damage, and neither the team nor the league have a wing to spare, leaving the Americans ashore with no options but to watch and learn.  

“We’ll open our computers with our coach and our race engineer and go over with them what they saw with the practice laps,” Buckley said. “We’ll be looking at everyone else’s data, so it’s not completely lost.

While Buckley’s body language was telling of his frustration, Canfield was more pragmatic, and happy to put a positive spin on the American team’s situation.

“This is a great opportunity to learn more than we would normally about the T-foils and what other teams are doing with them,” he said. “They really change the dynamics of the boat, the loading of the boat, and we’ll figure out who’s going best and what they’re doing. There’s plenty to learn sitting on the sidelines.”

As for collecting any season points, which count toward advancing to the Finale, Buckley was unsure whether league commissioner Russell Coutts would grant them any, given the accident and damage was on the Americans.

“It’s out of our hands,” Buckley said, deferring to Coutts. “We don’t know.”

The disappointing result in Auckland, Buckley added, could be summarized as “abandoning “the basics” and now, with no opportunity to get back to them in Sydney, any improvement will have to come in Los Angeles, the league’s next stop in March.

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SailGP’s Season 5 continued from its first event in Dubai nearly two months ago—a drifter of an opener in the desert—with a high-speed weekend of racing in the breezy waters off downtown Auckland this weekend for the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix. With tight racecourses set between towering bleachers on shore and a sprawling spectator fleet, the races were unkind to many of the league’s fledgling teams that struggled with the newly-introduced T-foils for the F50s, and after two days and eight races it was the experienced Australia SailGP team that emerged as the regatta’s dominant winner, taking out Emirates GBR and Spain SailGP Team in the three-boat final.

“This win means so much to us,” said the Australian skipper, Tom Slingsby, who acknowledged the notable contributions of his new wing trimmer, Chris Draper. “The team set us up so well. We had an amazing last race. It felt like we were fighting the British on the first leg, then the Spanish caught us on the final, upwind leg. They [Spain] had chosen to sort of concede and take a second, but they went for it and went for the win but we managed to just get around them.”

After mid-fleet results on the opening day and in Fleet Races 5 and 6, New Zealand’s Black Foils squad found their groove to finish second in Fleet Race 7, but it wasn’t enough to secure a spot in the Final. ROCKWOOL Denmark also lost out in the battle for third despite claiming back-to-back wins in Fleet Races 6 and 7. Skipper Nicolai Sehested and his teammates put up stellar performances in those races, putting their several years of experience in the F50 to good use and displaying confidence with the new foils and the high speeds that come with them.

New Zealand driver Peter Burling said, “For us it was a really frustrating day. It felt like each day we really progressed forward during the day and got better and better as we got more comfortable, but it wasn’t quite enough. We’re really excited with the way the team is going – now, we just have to take the next event off the Aussies on their home turf.” 

The titanium T-Foils that were added to the fleet for the Auckland event proved to be a handful for many teams, including the SailGP United States squad, which had a few decent starts, but struggled with maneuvers.

“At times, I think the boats are more stable,” said the US team’s helmsman Taylor Canfield after several days of training with the new foils. “At times they make it challenging for us to sail these boats. That’s the nature of trying to get more speed out of these machines and to continue to be on the forefront of technology and push the limits.”

Whereas the F50s previous L-shaped foils had fewer adjustments for the foil trimmers to deal with, the new setup allows the flight controllers to manipulate the T-foil’s angle of tack with both cant and rake adjustments, which must also take into consideration rudder settings simultaneously. 

“I don’t think we’re sailing the boat that much differently,” Canfield added, “but a lot of our roles have changed on board as a result. I think that it’s impacting the starting process quite a bit, like getting back to the start line a little bit quicker than anticipated.”

The US team continued its preferred pre-start approach of leading the fleet to the line and setting up early, and while it worked on a few occasions, there were other starts that left them stalled in a stream of wing wash. The few good starts they did manage quickly unraveled after rounding the first mark—visibly struggling with keeping the boat at stable flight.

“There’s a finer essence flying the boat in a straight line around the racecourse because we’re now seeing the tip of the foil pop out of the water,” Canfield explained on a media call before the racing got underway on Saturday in New Zealand. “If we get too much foil coming out of the water without enough boat speed, all the flow detaches from the foil, and the boat drops out of the sky. So, there’s definitely some moments where we need to be cautious of getting too high on the foils. It’s quite costly if we fall off the foils.”

After the Aussie win in Auckland, the Black Foils drop to second in the 2025 Season standings of the Rolex SailGP Championship, while Emirates Great Britain (with Dylan Fletcher helming) move into first – both are tied with 17 points. The Australia SailGP Team are now third overall (16 points). Canada did not race on Day 2 after flight controller Billy Gooderham sustained an injury in warm up. France was not on the start line this weekend as the team awaits completion of the league’s newest F50 catamaran, Boat 12. The league cited issues with the boat’s new wing, which will be online for the next regatta, the Australia Sail Grand Prix in February.

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