Emirates GBR wins ROCKWOOL France Sail Grand Prix after race day two cancelled due to thunderstorm
by Emirates GBR SailGP Team 13 Sep 23:56 AEST
12-13 September 2025
Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team with the France Sail Grand Prix winner trophy - Saint Tropez, France - September 13, 2025- © Felix Diemer/SailGP
The Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team has won the ROCKWOOL France Sail Grand Prix in Saint-Tropez, after Race Day Two was cancelled due to an incoming thunderstorm and lightning risk.
The British crew, driven by Olympic gold medallist Dylan Fletcher, topped the event leaderboard after the first day's racing on Friday, coming away with a scorecard of 2-4-6-1 from the four fleet races.
There was due to be three more full fleet races on Saturday, with the top three teams from across the weekend then going into the winner-takes-all event final. Saturday's action was cancelled early this morning after forecasters deemed there to be a thunderstorm and lightning risk, in which the carbon fibre F50s are not allowed to sail. This meant Emirates GBR was declared winner of the event, taking away the trophy and the 10 season points. New Zealand took second while Spain placed third. The British crew now sits second on the 2025 Season leaderboard, just two points behind the Kiwis in first.
Emirates GBR Driver Dylan Fletcher said: "I woke up to a message saying racing was cancelled as unfortunately there are some big storms coming in and due to the risk factor they're having to cancel racing today, but the good news for us is that we've taken the win here. Obviously it's not the way we wanted to win, we would have liked to do it the normal, proper way, but this is racing and we were top of the table after yesterday so we'll take it. We're looking forward to getting racing in Geneva next weekend and hoping we can build on this win there."
The Emirates GBR F50 will now be packed away and begin its journey to Geneva, for the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix next weekend. The Saint-Tropez event marked the start of a bumper few weeks for SailGP, with three events in four weeks. The Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix will take place in Geneva next weekend, 20-21 September, followed by the DP World Spain Sail Grand Prix in Cadiz on 4-5 October. The cancellation of Race Day Two in Saint Tropez means to SailGP will get a head start on their journey to Geneva.
Emirates GBR CEO Sir Ben Ainslie said: "The team have done brilliantly so far this season, it's been ups and downs as it has for all of the teams, but they managed to come back from that crash in Sassnitz and sail brilliantly yesterday in really tricky conditions here in Saint-Tropez. It's great to get the win here at a really critical moment in the season with this triple header and looking ahead to the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi in November so it's all to play for."
The 2025 Season Championship resumes in Geneva next weekend, and with just three events left of the season, all teams are focused on securing the best results possible to make it into the $2m Grand Final race in Abu Dhabi on 29-30 November.
Fletcher said: "We're coming to the last few events of the season now and we've managed to move up to second on the season leaderboard after a win here in Saint-Tropez. It's super tight at the top of the leaderboard though, we're just two points behind the Kiwis and the Aussies are just one point behind us, so it's really getting close now in the sharp end of the season."
Racing resumes in Geneva for the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix next weekend and UK viewers can watch all the action live on TNT Sports.