Tom Slingsby and the BONDS Flying Roos are on fire in the 2026 SailGP Rio event.
Tom Slingsby and the Bonds Flying Roos won race six, their second consecutive win on Sunday and third podium finish across the regatta. They did it carrying a penalty from the opening minutes. In conditions that were gusty, shifty and at times brutal to read, Australia had a level of control the rest of the fleet couldn’t match.
The start was a mess. Switzerland protested six times before the fleet had cleared the line, Italy and Germany both protested at the gun, Sweden once. Australia fouled Switzerland coming off the line and took a penalty. GBR fouled Italy and took one too. Neither boat was going anywhere useful early.
Australia served their penalty and drove through the fleet regardless. At mark one they sat tenth, 11 seconds off the leader with Denmark and USA out front. By mark two they had already worked into second, nine seconds off Denmark’s lead. In a race where they’d gone backwards at the start, they were already knocking on the door by the second mark.
Mark three and Australia had the lead, five seconds clear of Denmark. From there the gap grew on every leg. By mark five Denmark sat 35 seconds back, Spain had come through to second, 15 seconds off Australia, Sweden fourth at 42 seconds. The front of the fleet had broken away from everyone else and it wasn’t coming back together.
Spain had their own penalty mid-race after fouling Australia on the water, but held second to the finish, crossing 18 seconds behind the Flying Roos. Denmark third at 22 seconds, Sweden fourth at 26, France fifth at 39. Canada sixth, Brazil seventh, USA eighth, Germany ninth, GBR tenth. Switzerland eleventh, Italy last and still out on the course when the race ended.
GBR’s start penalty put them 39 seconds off the pace at mark one and they were stuck there, grinding through to tenth with nothing to build on. Whatever slim chance of making the final existed before race six, it is gone now. Two days in Rio, six fleet races, and Emirates GBR leave without points that matter.
The gusty, patchy conditions around Sugarloaf on Sunday have suited one team above all others. The wind comes over and around the mountain in unpredictable bursts, and the boats that can stay connected to the foils through the dead patches and accelerate cleanly into the pressure have had the edge. Australia has done that consistently across both race five and race six, and the Flying Roos go into the final fleet race with the event lead and real momentum.
One more fleet race. Then the top three go into the final.
Race results
Fleet race 6 results
| Pos | Team | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BONDS Flying Roos | Tom Slingsby | 10 PTS (penalty -5) |
| 2 | Los Gallos | Diego Botin | 9 PTS |
| 3 | ROCKWOOL Racing | Nicolai Sehested | 8 PTS |
| 4 | Artemis | Nathan Outteridge | 7 PTS |
| 5 | DS Automobiles FRA | Quentin Delapierre | 6 PTS |
| 6 | NorthStar | Giles Scott | 5 PTS |
| 7 | Mubadala Brazil | Martine Grael | 4 PTS |
| 8 | U.S. SailGP Team | Taylor Canfield | 3 PTS |
| 9 | Germany by Deutsche Bank | Erik Heil | 2 PTS |
| 10 | Emirates GBR | Dylan Fletcher | 1 PTS |
| 11 | Switzerland | Sebastien Schneiter | 0 PTS |
| 12 | Red Bull Italy | Phil Robertson | 0 PTS |
| 13 | Black Foils | Peter Burling | 0 PTS |
Fleet race total results after Race 6
| Pos | Team | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BONDS Flying Roos | Tom Slingsby | 58 PTS |
| 2 | Artemis | Nathan Outteridge | 49 PTS |
| 3 | Los Gallos | Diego Botin | 41 PTS |
| 4 | U.S. SailGP Team | Taylor Canfield | 41 PTS |
| 5 | ROCKWOOL Racing | Nicolai Sehested | 36 PTS |
| 6 | Germany by Deutsche Bank | Erik Kosegarten-Heil | 36 PTS |
| 7 | Red Bull Italy | Phil Robertson | 33 PTS |
| 8 | DS Automobiles FRA | Quentin Delapierre | 27 PTS |
| 9 | NorthStar | Giles Scott | 26 PTS |
| 10 | Mubadala Brazil | Martine Grael | 23 PTS (penalty 10) |
| 11 | Switzerland | Sébastien Schneiter | 19 PTS |
| 12 | Emirates GBR | Dylan Fletcher | 6 PTS |
| 13 | Black Foils | Peter Burling | 0 PTS |
