SailGP Halifax 2026: Australia wins Race 1 Group A after timed-out restart

Australia won the opening race of Group A at the 2026 SailGP Halifax event, navigating a dramatic race restart and dying winds on Halifax Harbour. Tom Slingsby’s Flying Roos claimed victory ahead of Spain in second and a resilient New Zealand Black Foils team in third.

The regatta debuted a unique split-fleet format to handle the local course conditions, dividing the 13-boat fleet into two distinct groups. Group A features Australia, France, Spain, Denmark, New Zealand, Canada, and Brazil, while Group B contains Emirates GBR, USA, Artemis, Germany, Red Bull Italy, and Switzerland. Teams only accumulate points within their own group, with the top two from each group advancing to Sunday’s final series.

Farce in the harbour: The Race 1 abandonment

The initial attempt at Race 1 ended in frustration for the Australian team. A passing rain cell cleared the harbour just before the start, taking the breeze with it and leaving the F50 catamarans stranded on heavy-wind foils.

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While Australia led the fleet and neared the finish line, they missed the strict nine-minute time limit by a mere two to three seconds. Under SailGP rules, failing to finish within nine minutes completely invalidates the race. The results were scrubbed, forcing a full restart for Group A and sending the waiting Group B boats back to the pit lane.

The Black Foils’ dramatic return

For Kiwi sailing fans, the headline story was the successful return of the New Zealand Black Foils. The boat had been sidelined for nearly four months following a severe collision in New York. Thanks to a monumental effort by the SailGP shore team to rebuild three damaged boats in time for Halifax, Peter Burling and his crew returned highly competitive.

During the restart, Burling kept the Black Foils glued to Slingsby’s wake. New Zealand rounded the first mark just 3.5 seconds behind Australia and maintained that tight gap through the second mark, proving their training days in Halifax paid off.

Tactical shifts at the bottom gate

As the race progressed, the breeze rotated heavily to the right at the bottom of the course. Australia opted for the longer right-hand route to stay in better wind pressure—a tactical risk that paid off as they got foiling cleanly to cross the finish line over a minute ahead of the fleet.

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Spain mirrored Australia’s tactical decision, finding extra pressure to overtake New Zealand on the final run home. While the Black Foils slipped to third, their ability to match the boat speed of the fleet leaders after a four-month layoff bodes exceptionally well for the rest of the Canadian regatta.