Defending champions Emirates GBR claim sensational victory at SailGP's 2026 Season opener in Perth
by Emirates GBR SailGP Team 18 Jan 05:43 PST
17-18 January 2026
Luke Parkinson, flight controller of Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, holds the winners trophy wheel alongside Dylan Fletcher, Stuart Bithell, Nick Hutton, Hannah Mills and Neil Hunter after winning the Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix © Andrew Baker for SailGP
Reigning champions Emirates GBR have claimed a sensational victory at the Rolex SailGP Championship's 2026 Season opener in Perth. Emirates GBR, who were crowned Rolex SailGP 2025 Season Champions in Abu Dhabi in November, sailed a near-perfect second day to take the win of the Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix, presented by KPMG.
After a difficult first day's racing on Saturday, Emirates GBR came out firing on Sunday, winning two of the three fleet races to book themselves a spot in the three-team winner-takes-all Final. The British crew, driven by Dylan Fletcher MBE, fended off competition from home team, Australia's BONDS Flying Roos, and DS Automobiles Team France in the final by sailing a flawless race with Emirates GBR's Flight Controller and local Perth resident, Luke Parkinson, clocking up a 100% fly-time despite meter-high waves on the course.
Emirates GBR Driver Dylan Fletcher said: "We're stoked. Right now I feel on cloud nine. The team did such a good job out there in conditions like that. Parko [Luke Parkinson], our Flight Controller, was amazing and it was great for him to get the home win. We left a lot out there, with plenty still to work on, but I'm really proud of how the team has been chipping away each day. We had a disappointing start yesterday and didn't get the results we wanted but we came out firing today, and I'm stoked with the result."
The Brits would have been feeling the pressure to perform, given they were Season Champions last year and had a new addition to the team in Stuart Bithell MBE, who replaced Wing Trimmer Iain Jensen after his transfer to his home team, Australia's BONDS Flying Roos. The signing reunited Bithell with Emirates GBR Driver Dylan Fletcher for the first time since they won Olympic gold together at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Emirates GBR Strategist Hannah Mills OBE said: "We've had Stu come on board as wing trimmer which is a big dynamic shift. We're really proud of how the team has come together this week - we kept a learning mindset and then put it into practice when we went racing. It doesn't get much better than that, especially in Perth. It's our Flight Controller Parko's hometown and for us to go out there with the Fremantle Doctor coming in strong, amazing breeze and a bit of chop, it made it tricky to race the boats but it delivered phenomenal racing."
The Fremantle Doctor, a powerful summer breeze that arrives in the afternoon, caused chaos in the training days with huge waves and strong winds testing even the most experienced of teams. Luckily for Emirates GBR, they had the Prince of Perth, Luke Parkinson, on the flight control to handle the Doctor.
Parkinson said it was "absolutely amazing" to take the win at his home event.
"Being able to share the beautiful, magnificent conditions that we have here with the Fremantle Doctor with my teammates is just epic," he said.
"With SailGP we get to race in some amazing venues but being here in my hometown and sharing it with my friends and family, and showcasing exactly what our sport is about is phenomenal."
The next stop on the Rolex SailGP Championship's 2026 Season calendar is the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix in Auckland on 14 and 15 February. Auckland will mark the second of 13 events this season, and it will hopefully see all 13 SailGP back on the start line, after Spain and New Zealand were unable to race due to damaging their F50s during training. The championship will return to Portsmouth for what is expected to be one of the biggest events of the season on 25 and 26 July and tickets are available at sailgp.com/Portsmouth