Day 1 – Spain overcomes storm clouds, topping the standings after Day 1 of Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix
Diego Botin’s Spain SailGP Team leads the fleet after a stormy and tactical opening day of the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix. France, ROCKWOOL Denmark and New Zealand are all hot on his heels for all-important leaderboard points heading into Championship Sunday.
Photo: Samo Vidic for SailGP.
As the starting bell rang on the Hudson, SailGP’s fleet of international athletes took on multiple roles, with just three crew on board to reduce weight in light breeze. Straight across the startline, Diego Botin led the fleet to mark one, storming ahead to cross the finish line first.
Coming off the water, Botin remarked: “It was so hectic out there! The first race suddenly we were up – we didn’t know where we were within the fleet but we got a good start and then we managed to give it our all. Managing priorities on the boat in these kinds of conditions and in different formations onboard – that’s the toughest thing. You cannot stop fighting until the end.”
Race two and a four-person crew meant an extra set of eyes and hands on board for teams navigating the flushing-out tides of the Hudson. Tom Slingsby – fresh off the hype of announcing a new Title Partner and co-owners, actors Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds – tore through the startline and kept it up, sweeping across the line in first. Martine Grael’s Mubadala Brazil was close behind in second, with a consistent effort from Quentin Delapierre’s France taking Les Bleus into third.
Tom Slingsby, who sits sixth after the first three fleet races of the weekend, said: “We sort of had an up and down day. The race win was great – the boat was going really well and then the last race, unfortunately, we had a few issues and had a bad race. The forecast tomorrow looks great – we’re going to focus on that.”
The third and final fleet race started with a drag race over the startline between Peter Burling’s Black Foils and Nicolai Sehested’s ROCKWOOL Denmark, as the Kiwis aimed to bounce back to the top after an 11th place finish in fleet race two. And boy, did it pay off as for the first time in SailGP racing history the New Zealand crew lapped the entire fleet, going three times the speed round the outside of the course and proving that once foiling, they were out of there…and across the finish.
Racing at home for the final time this season, the U.S. SailGP Team was buoyed by full grandstands of American racing fans. Driver Taylor Canfield said, “We could hear them cheering for us as we came by, and that’s super cool. I’m so proud to represent our country and we’re lucky to have this third event (Stateside).”
Prior to the racing beginning on Saturday, SailGP Chief Hype Officer, Grammy-Award winning music mogul DJ Khaled, hyped up the crowd. More than 10,000 fans are expected across the weekend, watching from the Governors Island Race Stadium and official spectator fleet.
Day 2 – Spain SailGP Team claims second consecutive U.S. win at Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix
Diego Botin and the Spain SailGP team have punched their way to the top of the Rolex SailGP Championship, taking the win on Sunday in New York. Crowds of thousands flocked to the Hudson River shoreline to witness the event, in which the defending Season 4 champions handily defeated New Zealand and France in the winner-takes-all final.
Photo: Ricardo Pinto for SailGP.
Spain overtakes Tom Slingsby’s BONDS Flying Roos (Australia) in the overall standings, while Peter Burling’s Black Foils (New Zealand) move into the top three – bumping Emirates GBR from third to fourth. The win marks a second consecutive U.S. victory for Spain, who also led the fleet at the Oracle San Francisco Sail Grand Prix in March.
Despite being the top team of the weekend, Botin was under no impression that it would be plain sailing: “We had a very emotional, up and down day – a good first race, then we struggled through the next two,” Botin said. “But, that gave us a bit of momentum. It pushed us in the final and we are so happy to win. In the final, you must go all in and we found our groove. America is a special place for us and it’s amazing to win here again.”
With five different winners across six fleet races, New York proved to be among the most dynamic racetracks on the calendar. It was all to play for on day two, which began with an historic first win for Martine Grael’s Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team in fleet race four.
Photo: Katelyn Mulcahy for SailGP.
Celebrating the victory, Grael said: “Well, that was amazing – I’ve been saying this quite a lot this week – we’ve been ticking lots of boxes. This [fleet race win] is the first of a lot of things this week. I think it’s good to know that we are working in the right way. Our eyes are broadening a little bit, we are getting more corner vision and being able to see more on the race course. I know it’s working the right way.”
Unfortunately, consistent results in fleet races four and five weren’t enough to buoy Mubadala Brazil into their first event final, with the team’s hopes dashed after an 11th place finish in the sixth and final fleet race of the weekend. The BONDS Flying Roo also missed out after a mixed weekend on the Hudson.
Despite finishing last in their third and final home event of the season, U.S. SailGP Team driver Taylor Canfield expressed his gratitude. Canfield said: “We could hear the fans cheering and despite not having a great event – it means a lot. We made gains this week, so we’ve got to keep our eye on that prize. We just keep chipping away at it and it’ll come – it’s within reach.”
Across the weekend, more than 10,000 fans turned out to watch the action in the purpose-built Race Stadium on Governor’s Island and the official spectator fleet. The most exciting racing water now turns to the European leg of the global championship, with just over one month until the inaugural Emirates Great Britain | Sail Grand Prix, July 19-20 2025. Tickets are available for purchase at SailGP.com/Tickets.
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