SailGP: Brits win Grand Final, Denmark win Event - Abu Dhabi - Day 2
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 30 Nov 2025 23:22 AEDT
Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, lift the SailGP Championship trophy Race Day 2 of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix Season Grand Final - November 30, 2025 © Andrew Baker/SailGP
Emirates Great Britain have won the Grand Final of SailGP in Abu Dhabi, after a bold move on the second downwind leg, allowing them to move through the Black Foils (NZL) on the opposite side of the course.
The British team never backed off and extended to lead comfortably on what became a one-way course thereafter.
The telling statistic of the Grand Final was the Foiling Percentage, with the British recording 98.3%, well above the Kiwis and Australians, who both paid the price for being caught in lower pressure on Leg 4, when they struggled to foil, the Australians particularly so.
Emirates Great Britain took the USD $ 2 million first prize, bringing their winnings to a handy USD $4.4 million in Season 5.
The Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix 2025 Season Grand Final, presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council, was sailed in stronger winds than Saturday's drift-fest, and aside from the occasional snafu, most were able to foil at will.
Two races were staged ahead of the Grand Final to determine the winner of the Abu Dhabi event and the final three teams who would go through to the Grand Final.
Rockwool Denmark, skippered by Nicholai Sehested, maintained their top position on the leaderboard to win the Abu Dhabi event, with Red Bull Italy recording their first-ever podium finish, for Silver, and France Les Bleus seizing Bronze.
Australia came close to elimination as the fourth-ranked Spanish team moved into third place, leaving the Australians in last place. Try as they might, Diego Botin's Los Gallos could not make an impression on second-placed Rockwool Denmark or the race leader Les Bleus France. A win in the race would have been sufficient for Spain to get through to the Grand Final and defend their Season 4 Grand Final title.
Australia had the early lead in the Grand Final, winning the Sprint Leg off the start and around Mark 1, with New Zealand and Britain locked side by side, and well astern. The Brits were first to gybe onto port and head for the right-hand, or Grandstand side of the course, dropping back to third almost immediately.
Then it was Australia's turn as they led around Mark 2 and headed right, coming off the foils as they tacked off the Grandstand side and dropping back to third. Then it was the Kiwis' turn to come off the foils in their tack out of the right-hand corner and sailed at displacement speed all the way back to Gate 3.
The US$2 million move from the Brits came at Gate 3, where the British came in from the left-hand side in third place, passing astern of the Black Foils and Australia, and headed for the Grandstand side.
Emirates Great Britain's win came as a result of some very good strategic thinking, maybe developed on the previous leg. When they came in from the left hand side, they were foiling and in good pressure. With accurate layline calls they were able to make the windward gate without tacking, and stayed on their foils. After rounding the mark foiling at 25kts they carried their apparent wind into the top right hand corner, and gybed staying on the foils and appearing to do a brief touch down. The crew were able to work together, by sailing a hotter angle, and probably pumping the wingsail, were able to get back on the foils and pointing at Mark 4.
Before they'd even sailed 100 metres down the fourth leg, the British moved into the lead, picking up a shift and better pressure. On the other side, both Antipodeans were on a higher angle and struggled in the gybe, with the Flying Roo's coming off the foils completely, while the Black Foils dipped their bow in, before recovering and having to hot up the angle to get back onto the foils.
The flat spot was the Anzac's undoing, as on the opposite side of the course, the British got richer thanks to a left-hand shift, enabling the Brits to foil fast and at a killer angle for the bottom mark, which they made without another gybe. A magnificent strategic call. The other two could only wave goodbye, while the British doubled their money, crossing both and enjoying a lead of over 100 metres as they passed the 200 metre mark.
With that advantage, there was little Australia or New Zealand could do to recover, unless the British ran out of pressure or scored an own goal.
The two back-markers crossed over to the right-hand, or Grandstand side and gybed into a position which crystallised the British margin at over 200 metres. The got to the bottom mark in a single gybe, and then repeated the feat with just a single tack to hit the layline for Mark 5.
From there, it was a procession up the left-hand side of the short fifth leg, before the Brits turned for the Finish, and 8m 13sec after the start were US$2million richer.
There was more drama to come. Both the Kiwis and the 'Roos had to put in an extra maneuver on Leg 4 - handing the race to the Brits.
New Zealand dropped off their foils approaching the final mark, allowing Australia to close the gap. Thanks to a faster rounding, of Mark 5, Australia was able to sail through the Kiwis' lee on the short leg to the Finish, and recorded second place in the three-boat final.
"We just kept chipping away at the opportunities, and the team did a great job," was skipper Dylan Fletcher's understated summary of the race and US$2million win.
The British team topped the Season earnings table with a total of $4,400,000, followed by the Black Foils on $1,760,000, the Flying Roos on $1,200,000, and Los Gallos (ESP), which were the fourth team to make the Million Dollar Club with earnings also of $1,200,000.
Season 6 starts on January 17, 2026, in Perth, WA. In the meantime, the new team, Artemis Racing, was launched today and will sail for five days in Abu Dhabi. The Transfer Season window also starts now, and announcements of hires and transfers are expected in the coming days.