Emirates GBR now lead the overall Rolex SailGP standings after a compelling victory on Cádiz Bay in early October. In an action-packed final, a tactical move by the Brits around the final turning mark forced New Zealand off its foils. The Black Foils lost their lead – but managed to narrowly hold onto second place ahead of the Germany SailGP Team presented by Deutsche Bank, which finished third.
Driver Dylan Fletcher – who has now all-but solidified his team’s spot in next month’s winner-takes-all Grand Final race – said, “It was an unbelievable weekend for the team. We had to fight hard for it. We’d been fighting through the fleet all day, so we just kept pushing. It was a great battle with the Black Foils – they were sailing brilliantly too – but we managed to come out on top.”
Black Foils driver Peter Burling said, “On that final turn towards the finish, we thought we’d be able to get to the zone off the left boundary, but we ended up on a much worse angle than expected going into the last mark. We were trying to get into the zone on the inside, but the Brits managed to just get an overlap on the outside. At that point we were just trying to make something happen. Still, we were happy to secure second and extend our gap over Spain and Australia in the overall standings.”
Emirates GBR were the in-form team of the weekend, picking up a string of solid results across two days of fleet racing. The Brits now lead the overall season standings with 85 points – 9 points ahead of Spain in fourth – and are the only team to win three events this season. The BONDS Flying Roos move from first to third on the season leaderboard.
Strategist Hannah Mills said, “It definitely feels like a really good time to get the win before Abu Dhabi. The leaderboard looks a bit different now to how it did coming into the weekend, which is great for us heading into the Grand Final. We’re super happy – it’s been a really tough couple of days, very physical racing, and tricky conditions to keep the boat flying cleanly.”
All 12 international teams hit the start line in Cádiz – fitted for 11 to 20km/h of breeze, with the 24-meter all-purpose wingsail, light-air T-Foils and rudders. The Spain SailGP Team dazzled the sold-out crowds with an opening win in fleet race five – a highlight for the defending SailGP champions, who finished fifth for the weekend overall.
Driver Diego Botín said, “Sailing here in front of this crowd is just incredible. Seeing that sea of red and hearing the fans cheering us on all day – it’s a unique feeling. We’re so grateful for the support, and we really want to do well for them.”
“Now we’re looking ahead to Abu Dhabi,” Botín continued. “And we know what we have to do – we probably need to win the fleet racing to have a shot at the Grand Final, and we’re ready to give it everything.”
Fleet race six went the way of the France SailGP Team, while Mubadala Brazil celebrated their second-ever race win in race seven. Championship Sunday was “super disappointing” for ROCKWOOL Racing, said driver Nicolai Sehested, who narrowly missed out on the final despite entering the day in pole position with a considerable lead. Sehested said, “This weekend was the first time in a while that we felt like we were back to where we were last year – always fighting for that final.
“We’ve been close a few times now, but today we just got the strategy wrong. We ended up in too many fights, constantly trying to take less risk, and that just meant we were stuck battling in the fleet. Looking back, we probably should have just pushed harder like we did yesterday,” Sehested said.
The series at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix 2025 Season Grand Final, presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council in November 29 to 30, 2025.
