Emirates GBR wins Race 1 in New York, but hardly a full fleet in sight

High winds at the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix delayed the start of racing by roughly an hour on Saturday, with crane operations halted before teams could get all F50s into the water. Some boats stayed ashore for the entire session.

SailGP confirmed a reduced four-boat fleet for Day 1, with participating teams selected by current championship standing. Points were adjusted to match: a race win worth three points, with three, two, one and zero available across the fleet.

In the end, even four boats proved optimistic. When Race 1 started at around 8:33am NZ time, only two teams were on the water.

Emirates GBR crossed the start line three seconds clear of Los Gallos Spain and led at every mark of the eight-mark East River course. Spain closed to six seconds at Mark 2, but GBR pulled away on the downwind legs. Dylan Fletcher’s crew finished 24.7 seconds ahead, the race done in just under nine minutes. Top speed recorded: 97.3 km/h.

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The East River current made mark roundings costly throughout. Spain went wide at the bottom mark early and never recovered the ground. GBR had their own moment at Mark 7, a compound jibe-and-roundup that loaded the boat hard, but Luke Parkinson held it together and they crossed cleanly.

Australia and USA were reportedly on the water somewhere behind the course during the race, though neither made it to the start line.
Sunday’s schedule remains unchanged.