SailGP’s Season 6 rolled into Portsmouth for the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix, the opening event of the European leg, and across two days of group racing and a nail-biting four boat final it delivered almost every storyline the format could offer. A team bottom of its group produced a maiden win from nowhere. A home nation had its hopes ended by millimetres in front of its own crowd. New Zealand’s Black Foils, the defending event champions, led Group A outright at the end of day one and missed the final entirely twenty four hours later, by two points. And it was Los Gallos Spain, quietly consistent when it mattered most across both days, who were left celebrating on the dock, their second event win in a row.
Day one: New Zealand save their best for last, and a shock finish in Group B
Group A’s opening day set the tone for a group that would go right to the wire. Northstar Canada won the first race in dominant fashion, blasting the sprint to the first mark to lead from start to finish. Los Gallos Spain produced the highlight of the day in race two, reeling in Canada’s lead all race before pouncing when Canada came unstuck trying to force them wide at the final gate, a manoeuvre that sent Canada off the foils and out of contention, Diego Botín’s crew admitting afterwards it had been desperately close. New Zealand’s Black Foils, fourth in the opener, capitalised to snatch second in that race, then produced the standout performance of the day in race three, leading every single mark on wing trimmer Blair Tuke’s birthday, improving in every single race of the day. It left New Zealand top of Group A on 11 points, one clear of Canada, with Los Gallos Spain third and Bonds Flying Roos Australia, Red Bull Italy, Rockwell Racing Denmark and Mubadala Brazil rounding out a group that was tight from top to bottom.
Group B produced three different winners. The US SailGP Team won the opener, Artemis Sweden were dominant in race two, and Emirates GBR salvaged their weekend with victory in the last race, helped by a near-disaster for Germany’s Deutsche Bank team, whose wing trimmer lost his footing crossing the boat and very nearly capsized them at the worst possible moment. Artemis finished the day top of Group B on 13 points, with the US SailGP Team second.
Day two: the picture is rewritten twice over
Super Sunday opened with two more group races per group before the deciders, and both produced form reversals. In Group A, Bonds Flying Roos Australia inherited a gift start after New Zealand, Canada and Italy all ran into trouble at the gun, and led every mark for their first win of the event, a result that vaulted Los Gallos Spain to the top of the group and locked New Zealand, Canada and Australia together on 12 points apiece for the second qualifying spot. In Group B, Germany, who had managed just two points across all of day one, produced their best sailing of the weekend to lead every mark and survive their own late penalty for a comfortable win, while the US SailGP Team’s day fell apart in a tangle with Emirates GBR, sending them from mid-fleet to last and out of the points entirely.
The deciders that followed settled both groups in dramatic fashion. Northstar Canada, needing something special, found it, reading an approaching wind shift better than anyone on the water to climb from around fifth into clear second and secure their spot in the final. New Zealand’s Black Foils had a top two position in hand deep into the same race, only for Peter Burling to take the boat wide of the sixth mark in what commentators described as a deliberate tactical foul aimed at blocking Spain later in the race. It cost far more distance than New Zealand could afford, and they missed the final by two points, having led the group twenty four hours earlier. Bonds Flying Roos Australia, the runaway leaders of the overall season standings, missed out entirely, undone by an early start penalty before the race had even begun.
Group B’s decider was, if anything, crueller for the team involved. Emirates GBR arrived at the first mark mere millimetres from an overlap with Explorer Swiss, level with the leaders and needing exactly this result to stay alive. Rather than risk contact, they backed off, came off the foils and lost huge amounts of speed at the exact moment a sudden wind shift brought the next layline in early. There was no penalty on the incident, it simply ended their weekend in front of their own supporters, sliding from level with the lead pack to last. Explorer Swiss, by contrast, led every mark to win comfortably and joined an already qualified Artemis Sweden in the final.
The final: Spain complete back to back wins
That set the four boat decider: Northstar Canada and Los Gallos Spain from Group A, Artemis Sweden and Explorer Swiss from Group B. All four arrived at the first mark within 4.4 seconds of each other, Artemis timing the start to perfection to hold off a fast-closing Explorer Swiss who couldn’t quite complete the overlap.
Canada rolled the dice at the second gate, splitting away from the fleet in search of clearer wind, and picked up a penalty for straying too close to the boundary, in what commentators suggested may have been a deliberate foul in search of a longer term gain. It cost them touch with the front of the fleet just when they could least afford it. Los Gallos Spain, fourth at the first mark, had no such trouble, working past Canada and then Switzerland before making the move that won them the regatta, a downwind manoeuvre into the fourth mark that gained them close to 100 metres in a single stroke and put them in front for good. Explorer Swiss had a spell in touch with the lead in the middle of the race, even nosing ahead of Artemis at one stage, but Spain had an answer every time they were challenged, extending steadily to win by 9.3 seconds.
It’s back to back event wins for Diego Botín’s crew, who also took out the last event in Halifax, Canada. Northstar Canada recovered from their early penalty to finish third, and Explorer Swiss, first time finalists who had looked one of the most in-form boats in the fleet all weekend, finished fourth.
A silver lining for New Zealand, and a shake up at the top of the season
New Zealand’s own campaign ended on points rather than on the water, but there was still Kiwi representation on the final day’s podium. Artemis Sweden’s runner-up finish came with flight controller Andy Maloney and grinder Brad Farrand both on board, and Artemis driver Nathan Outteridge, an Australian, is set to helm New Zealand’s America’s Cup campaign come September, an intriguing thread to follow as that regatta approaches.
The result reshapes the overall Season 6 picture too. Los Gallos Spain’s win pulls them to within 12 points of Bonds Flying Roos Australia at the top of the championship, 54 points to 66, despite Australia missing the Portsmouth final altogether. Artemis Sweden move into third overall on 47, just ahead of the US SailGP Team on 46, with Emirates GBR fifth on 44 after their painful home weekend.
With the season now well past its halfway point, attention turns to Sassnitz in northern Germany next, before SailGP heads to Valencia, Spain. Further ahead, Season 7 opens in a new venue entirely, Hong Kong, before the tour returns to Perth and adds Rome to the calendar for the first time, ahead of a Middle East finale.
