Australia win at SailGP New York

It was a weekend of chaos for the SailGP league as teams competed May 30-31 in New York, USA. After excessive winds prevented racing on day one, the fleet had three fleet races to advance the top three teams for the winner-take-all Final.

Despite meager previous results in New York, Tom Slingsby’s BONDS Flying Roos (AUS) won their third consecutive event, holding off Emirates GBR on the Hudson River.

The Australians, who arrived in the United States as the form team in 2026, were forced to fight from behind on a brutally difficult final day, with patchy breeze and constant shifts turning the racecourse into a moving puzzle.

Slingsby admitted the team had been “on the back foot all day” before producing a decisive final-race performance when it mattered most.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” he said. “We were just trying to claw our way back into the racing, and then that last race was exciting and we got away with it – a close one.”

The Final delivered a heart-stopping finish, with the BONDS Flying Roos and Emirates GBR locked in a tense battle to the line before the umpires ruled in Australia’s favor.

“The finish was a bit wild,” Slingsby said. “We thought we had the rights, they thought they had the rights, and the umpires ruled in our favor. Three-time winners – we’re very happy.”

Slingsby described the conditions as “one of the hardest days sailing” of his life and paid tribute to the team behind the scenes.

“I thought we weren’t going to be racing,” he said. “We had that many broken things and problems, and the shore team just got us back together and got us back out there. We owe this one to them.”

The win strengthens the BONDS Flying Roos’ grasp on the season leaderboard, extending their lead to 11 points.

The mood onboard the British F50 couldn’t have been more different.

After finishing dead last in Rio and fifth in Bermuda, the reigning Rolex SailGP Champions looked back to full force in New York, winning the opener and booking a spot in the Final with two more solid results.

A duel between the Brits and their Aussie arch rivals couldn’t have been any closer – but a last-gasp attempt by driver Dylan Fletcher to hold off Slingsby at the final mark backfired.

“We felt like we got back into the race, and we thought it was a penalty to the Australians at the end – it was pretty black and white from where we were that they weren’t doing enough to stay clear,” Fletcher fumed.

A much-improved NorthStar (CAN) made their first Final since the 2025 Season San Francisco Sail Grand Prix more than a year ago, but struggled to keep pace with the two SailGP heavyweights and ultimately had to settle for third.

The U.S. SailGP Team were looking strong to qualify for the Final but a start line collision with Red Bull Italy and Mubadala Brazil in race three ended their hopes of a home win.

No athletes were injured but Italy’s F50 was badly damaged. They will face a race against time to make the next event – the Canada Sail Grand Prix | Halifax – in just three weeks.

With the Kiwi team still on the sidelines, they were joined by Spain which was forced to miss all three fleet races due to technical issues. Both teams are expected to be ready for the next event.

Crew lists: https://sailgp.com/news/26/revealed-full-crew-lists-mubadala-new-york-sail-grand-prix/

SailGP information – New York details – How to watch

New York Results
1. Australia, Tom Slingsby (AUS), 9-2-3-(1)
2. Great Britain, Dylan Fletcher (GBR), 1-6-5-(2)
3. Canada, Giles Scott (CAN/GBR), 5-4-1-(3)
4. France, Quentin Delapierre (FRA), 4-8-6
5. Sweden, Nathan Outteridge (AUS), 3-7-8
6. United States, Taylor Canfield (USA), 2-1-9
7. Denmark, Nicolai Sehested (DEN), 10-10-2
8. Switzerland, Sébastien Schneiter (SUI), 7-9-7
9. Italy, Phil Robertson (NZL), 6-3-9
10. Brazil, Martine Grael (BRA), 8-5-9
11. Germany, Erik Heil (GER), 11-11-4
12. Spain, Diego Botin (ESP), 12-12-9
13. New Zealand, Peter Burling (NZL), 13-13-9
Note: Brazil, Italy, and USA collided at the start of Race 3 and were unable to race.

Season 6 Results (after 6 of 13 events)
1. Australia, Tom Slingsby (AUS), 2-1-5-1-1-1, 55 points
2. Great Britain, Dylan Fletcher (GBR), 1-2-2-12-4-2, 44
3. United States, Taylor Canfield (USA), 5-7-1-4-7-6, 36
4. Spain, Diego Botin (ESP), 12-3-3-2-2-12, 34
5. France, Quentin Delapierre (FRA), 3-4*-13-8-9-4, 32
6. Sweden, Nathan Outteridge (AUS), 4-5-9-3-11-5, 29
7. Germany, Erik Heil (GER), 9-6-8-6-3-11, 23
8. Denmark, Nicolai Sehested (DEN), 8-9-6-5-7, 22
9. Canada, Giles Scott (CAN/GBR), 6-10-11-10-6-3, 20
10. Italy, Phil Robertson (NZL), 7-13-4-7-8-9, 20
11. Switzerland, Sébastien Schneiter (SUI), 11-12-10-11-5-8, 10
12. Brazil, Martine Grael (BRA), 10-11-7-9-12-10, 8
13. New Zealand, Peter Burling (NZL), 13-8-12-13-13-13, 2
* 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.