36 umpire penalties shake Spain SailGP opener as Australia settles for sixth
by BONDS Flying Roos 4 Oct 11:39 PDT
4-5 October 2025
The SailGP fleet with BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team chasing Spain SailGP Team, Red Bull Italy SailGP Team, USA SailGP Team and Germany SailGP Team presented by Deutsche Bank on Race Day 1 of the DP World Spain Sail Grand Prix © Ricardo Pinto for SailGP
The BONDS Flying Roos battled through a tense opening day at the DP World Spain Sail Grand Prix in Andalucía-Cadiz, as a barrage of harsh penalties and punishing light-air conditions threatened to derail their push for a fourth Championship title.
The day's racing quickly descended into chaos with an astonishing 36 penalties dished out across the entire fleet as all 12 national teams fought to control their F50s in the brutal sea state and "speed-bump" waves off the Spanish coast.
The Aussies were in the umpires' firing line early, picking up a contentious late penalty in Race One after a fierce exchange with rivals New Zealand, then another in Race Two for not giving the Kiwis enough room at the start box. The latter proved costly for Tom Slingsby's crew, forcing them to drop to the back of the pack and costing them 600 metres in lead time.
Speaking to a packed media scrum after racing, BONDS Flying Roos Driver, CEO and Co-owner Tom Slingsby said, "The first two races we didn't do great. The first one we got a really harsh penalty call and the next one we had a bad start and couldn't find the lane. It's tough out here and when you get clear, it's a different game. There is so much bad air and you don't know where the bad spots are."
He added, "You see the pack move one way so you try the other, but sometimes you think you're clear, you're foiling along and suddenly you just fall out of the sky. With so many boats and little wind, the back markers are always going to struggle. A few teams had good days, but most found it tough."
Race Three saw the Aussies mount a stunning comeback, pulling a rabbit out of the hat to claim a dominant victory well ahead of the fleet, before having to claw their way from 11th to 5th in the final race. They wrapped up a rollercoaster day with results of 9th, 11th, 1st and 5th to finish in sixth overall.
BONDS Flying Roos Wing Trimmer Chris Draper commented on the conditions, "It was like a bucking Bronco with the waves. The wings produce a lot of gas and a lot of turbulent air and it's really hard to anticipate out there. It's quite hard to follow around the racecourse."
Despite the setbacks, the Australians managed to regroup and do enough to keep their hopes alive heading into Super Sunday, with only four points separating them from a seat in the Podium Final.
"We're obviously not in a great position heading into tomorrow, but we'll go out and fight for a couple of good races. It's going to be tough, there'll be a lot of teams battling for that last spot in the Final. Six teams will probably miss out and one will make it. Hopefully we can be that one," Slingsby said.
With all to play for, the BONDS Flying Roos continue their hunt for a spot in the winner-takes-all Podium Final tomorrow, kicking off for Australian fans from 11:30pm AEST / 12:30pm AEDT on Sunday 5 October, live on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports.