SailGP descends upon Cádiz for penultimate event of the 2025 Season
by SailGP 4 Oct 2025 06:21 AEST
4-5 October 2025
Switzerland SailGP Team helmed by Sebastien Schneiter leads Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team helmed by Martine Grael and Red Bull Italy SailGP Team helmed by Ruggero Tita during a practice session ahead of the DP World Spain Sail Grand Prix © Jason Ludlow for SailGP
The DP World Spain Sail Grand Prix kicks off tomorrow (October 4), with an action-packed weekend of racing expected in typically unpredictable conditions. SailGP's twelve national teams will be pushing to maximize every point in the penultimate stop of the Rolex SailGP Championship 2025 Season. Only this event - and the fleet racing in Abu Dhabi - stand between teams and the US $2 million, winner-takes-all Grand Final.
Tom Slingsby and the BONDS Flying Roos head into the weekend on top of the leaderboard with 76 points, closely followed by Dylan Fletcher's Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team on 75. Just behind them is Peter Burling's Black Foils in third with 73 points. The pressure is building for the home team favorites and Season 4 champions, Los Gallos, who sit in fourth on the leaderboard - just six points from first place.
Eleven teams hit the start line in practice today, with Spain selected to trial the league's new 27.5 meter windsail during the session instead. Designed to sit between the 24 meter all-purpose windsail and 29-meter light air, the new configuration was commissioned on the Australia SailGP Team's platform, while the BONDS Flying Roos got in their practice laps on Spain's F50.
Tom Slingsby, three-time SailGP champion and driver of BONDS Flying Roos, said: "We would love to be sailing our boat, but we got lucky in Geneva to be the team that got to test the light air foils first. This time Spain was selected to test the 27.5 meter wing. So unfortunately we're not in our boat today, but we'll be back in it tomorrow for racing."
This weekend's racing will be SailGP's fourth successive visit to the city of Cádiz and is expected to attract over 100,000 fans across the weekend - marking the fourth consecutive sell out in the European swing of events.
Commenting on returning and racing in front of a partisan crowd for the first time this season, Diego Botín, driver of home team heroes Spain SailGP Team and reigning SailGP Champion, said: "It's always amazing to be here in Cádiz. Cádiz has a long history now with our team and it really feels like home for us. We had a very nice year last season, but obviously we would love to deliver here in front of Cádiz, which we haven't done yet. We're going to put all our effort into this weekend and see what happens."
After a disappointing eighth-place finish for the New Zealand SailGP Team in Geneva last month, the team is looking for redemption in Cádiz. Driver Peter Burling reflected: "The team's been putting in a lot of hard work to really unpack that result and figure out how to make sure we move forward. For us, there were some real positives in the light airs and we felt like we were doing some things really well, but just a few key decisions on my behalf really let us down."
Burling went on to highlight the depth of talent in the fleet this season, with ten events producing seven different winners: "I think it shows you how close the racing is and the level SailGP is getting across the board - where one or two decisions that aren't the best can really put you right at the back."
A team that has experienced such success and recently joined the winner's circle is the Germany SailGP Team presented by Deutsche Bank - victorious at the first-ever Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix on Lake Geneva.
Still high off the win, driver Erik Heil said: "It looked pretty good for us from the start - but we also thought after the first maneuver we might lose [it]. So it was up and down and a rollercoaster during that final race. We feel we've had progress all year long, but it didn't show in the results. Slowly, [we've had] a few more complete - or more complete - races coming together and we feel good progress there."
The DP World Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía-Cádiz unfolds over two action-packed days of racing beginning tomorrow at 3.30pm CEST Saturday October 4 and Sunday October 5. The action will be broadcast live in Spain on Movistar. To find out where to watch; visit SailGP.com/Watch.