Spain Sail Grand Prix: U.S. SailGP Team snatch Valencia win to reignite grand final push
by SailGP 6 Sep 08:55 PDT
5-6 September 2026
United States SailGP Team driven by Taylor Canfield cross the finish line to win the final race on Race Day 2 of the Spain Sail Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain © Benjamin Rosewall for SailGP
The U.S. SailGP Team claimed their second event victory of the 2026 Season - keeping their Grand Final fight alive as they moved up to third on the overall championship standings.
The all-American crew defeated the Bonds Flying Roos in a decisive event final - overtaking the three-time Rolex SailGP Champions after a defining last upwind leg. Australia crossed the line second, followed by Red Bull Italy who finished third in their first-ever final appearance, and ROCKWOOL Denmark in fourth.
U.S. driver Taylor Canfield said, "We knew we had what it took yesterday. We came in today with a good plan and went out and executed. The pressure was on to make some moves in the final, and we did a great job handling the tactics. Everyone on board was spot-on, so yeah, we're pumped."
The U.S. have historically performed well in light conditions - topping the podium in Valencia with four crewmembers on-board, and full-time grinder Anna Weis comfortably behind the handles.
Canfield continued, "I'd say we're more of an all-around team now, but we love these conditions. We feel very comfortable throwing the boat around and we're confident in our decisions. We'll take it, and we're going to have a lot more of these conditions coming up. We're ready for them."
The victory is Canfield's second in a SailGP career that now boasts 30 fleet-race wins. Leapfrogging Artemis and Emirates GBR on the overall standings, the win has injected new life in the Americans' bid for the Abu Dhabi Grand Final.
Canfield insists the team is taking it "day by day still." Continuing, "We've got to keep getting better and stick to our process. Haters are going to hate, but we believe, so we're going to keep pushing and hopefully that'll be enough."
Equipped with the light-air titanium foils, rudders and 27.5-meter wingsail, each group had just one qualifying fleet race on Championship Sunday.
It was another victory for Red Bull Italy in Group A - their third in four fleet races - earning their first final appearance since joining SailGP in 2025. Driver Phil Robertson called the weekend "the best that this team's had." He continued, "We finished P3 and won three out of the four races in our group, which is quite a tough ask. We've been starting really, really well off the line, but in that final we broke the start line 0.2 seconds early and just ran out of a bit of space at that boat end.
"We fought super hard and got back into that race and even had a shot at the win right at the end. I'm really proud of the team. It's been a lot of hard work over the last few months. It's felt like there's been a lot of progress and we're taking big steps forward and closing the gap to the top teams. The results weren't coming, but now this is sort of validation, we are making the right moves and doing the right thing."
Finishing last in a disastrous final fleet race in Group B, Los Gallos missed out on a home event final despite leading the fleet on day one. Driver Diego Botin said: "Obviously, we wanted to win the final here in Valencia, especially after the great day we had yesterday. But we need to take the learnings and move forward.
"We just had a bad race. The Danes and the Americans deserve to pass into the final and we need to take the learnings. We need to use this hard moment to really dig deep and keep moving forward, especially in these light-air conditions."
The final began with an early-start penalty for Red Bull Italy, as the Bonds Flying Roos led to mark one and took control for much of the race. But the Americans came again - minimizing distance and maneuvers in the challenging breeze to gain distance on the Australians before shutting the door coming around the last mark.
Conceding what would be his sixth event win of the season, Bonds Flying Roos driver Tom Slingsby said, "95% of the final was good for us. We had a great start... then that last bottom-mark gate decision, in hindsight, I look at it as an own goal. We should have taken the left turn there. But the left gate hadn't been very good throughout the day, and we were sort of saying, 'Do what we've been doing all day,' which was right turn. We'd been making gains all day. I'm frustrated at that one for sure.
"I think we just need to look at the comms there, because the way we're sailing the boat is the best we've ever sailed the boat. We're strong in light winds, we're strong in heavy winds, we just feel good everywhere."
With only three Grand Prix remaining after Valencia, the fight for a place in the US $2 million Grand Final race has intensified further. Just five points separate the U.S. SailGP Team, Artemis and Emirates GBR in the fight for the third and final Abu Dhabi spot, while the Bonds Flying Roos sit 17 clear of Los Gallos at the top.
All eyes now turn to Geneva, the final European event of the 2026 Season. Limited tickets remain. Find out more at SailGP.com/Geneva.