Australia win at SailGP Rio de Janeiro

Tom Slingsby and his Australian squad has been the dominant team through the first five SailGP seasons, winning the first three titles. While the field has been catching up to their form, the Aussies were dominant in the league’s first South American event on April 11-12 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

While the USA team looked strong early on, it was Spain and Sweden that met Slingsby in the three-boat winner-take-all Final. The ability to accelerate off the start, and manage the transitions on the course, gave Australia a dominant victory.

Being the same venue as the 2016 Olympics, much was said about the advantage held by those competitors, particularly with the Brazilian team’s helm Martine Grael returning to home waters where she won the gold medal. But with the shrunken course positioned in the lee of Sugarloaf Mountain, similar to the Medal Race course in 2016, it was more about rekindling nightmares.

The four races on day one were in mostly light winds, but there was more range in the puffs and lulls for the final three fleet races on the second day. With the windward gate closest to the 396m-tall peak, bad things could happen and did. Such is life with made-for-broadcast sporting entertainment.

Season leader Great Britain had a shocker with a last place finish amongst the 12 teams, boosting Australia to the top of the standings. The league now shifts to North America for three events beginning on May 9-10 in Bermuda.

SailGP information – Rio details – How to watch

Rio de Janeiro Results
1. Australia, Tom Slingsby (AUS), 2-8-3-3-1-1-1-(1)
2. Spain, Diego Botin (ESP), 5-1-8-6-4-2-4-(2)
3. Sweden, Nathan Outteridge (AUS), 1-2-6-9-3-4-3-(3)
4. United States, Taylor Canfield (USA), 3-4-5-5-5-8-7
5. Denmark, Nicolai Sehested (DEN), 8-11-2-2-8-3-6
6. Germany, Erik Heil (GER), 6-3-9-1-11-9-2
7. Italy, Phil Robertson (NZL), 7-7-1-7-2-12-9
8. France, Quentin Delapierre (FRA), 4-9-4-10-7-5-12
9. Brazil, Martine Grael (BRA), 13-13-10-8-9-7-8
10. Canada, Giles Scott (CAN/GBR), 10-5-12-4-10-6-11
11. Switzerland, Sébastien Schneiter (SUI), 9-10-7-11-6-11-5
12. Great Britain, Dylan Fletcher (GBR), 11-6-11-12-12-10-10
13. New Zealand, Peter Burling (NZL), 12-12-13-13-13-13-13
Note: Brazil had gear issues in races 1 and 2. New Zealand did not compete due to boat damage in Event 2.

Season 6 Results (after 4 of 13 events)
1. Australia, Tom Slingsby (AUS), 2-1-5-1, 35 points
2. Great Britain, Dylan Fletcher (GBR), 1-2-2-12, 28
3. United States, Taylor Canfield (USA), 5-7-1-4, 27
4. Spain, Diego Botin (ESP), 12-3-3-2, 25
5. Artemis, Nathan Outteridge (AUS), 4-5-9-3, 23
6. France, Quentin Delapierre (FRA), 3-4*-13-8, 23
7. Denmark, Nicolai Sehested (DEN), 8-9-6-5, 17
8. Germany, Erik Heil (GER), 9-6-8-6, 15
9. Italy, Phil Robertson (NZL), 7-13-4-7, 15
10. Brazil, Martine Grael (BRA), 10-11-7-9, 7
11. Canada, Giles Scott (CAN/GBR), 6-10-11-10, 7
12. New Zealand, Peter Burling (NZL), 13-8-12-13, 2
13. Switzerland, Sébastien Schneiter (SUI), 11-12-10-11, 1
* Received compensation points for Sydney due to boat damage in Event 2.

Season 6 – 2026 Schedule:
• Jan 17-18 – Perth, Australia
• Feb 14-15 – Auckland, New Zealand
• Feb 28-March 1 – Sydney, Australia
• Apr 11-12  – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• May 9-10 – Hamilton, Bermuda
• May 30-31 – New York, USA
• June 20-21 – Halifax, Canada
• July 25-26- Portsmouth, GBR
• August 22-23 – Sassnitz, Germany
• Sept 5-6 – Valencia, Spain
• Sept 19-20 – Geneva, Switzerland
• Nov 21-22 – Dubai, UAE
• Nov 28-29 – Abu Dhabi, UAE
Note: The 11th event was moved to Geneva from Saint-Tropez, France.

Season 6 format:
• Thirteen teams compete in identical F50 catamarans.
• Each event is two days.
• All teams compete in up to seven qualifying fleet races of approximately 15 minutes.
• The top three teams from qualifying advance to a final race for the event title.
• The season ends with the Grand Final event which includes the Championship Final Race for the top three teams in the season standing.
• All teams are privately owned except for New Zealand which is owned by the league.

Season 6 prize money:
A total of USD $12.8 million is up for grabs in 2026. The winner of each of the 13 events takes home $400,000, with $260,000 for second and $140,000 for third. The team with the most points at the end of the season wins $400,000, while the team that wins the Championship Final Race wins USD $2 million.

F50 Configuration:
All teams use same configuration based on weather forecast. There are four wingsail sizes (18m, 24m, 27.5m, and 29m), six jib sizes, two T-foil daggerboards (high-speed and low-speed), and one set of rudders with high-speed and low-speed settings.

Established in 2018, SailGP seeks to be an annual, global sports league featuring fan-centric inshore racing among national teams in some of the iconic harbors around the globe.