Black Foils and Artemis Set the Pace on SailGP Portsmouth Opening Day
Six races, six different winners: opening day of the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix delivered drama from the first horn to the last. Racing in 30 km/h breeze on the Solent, F50s were configured with the smallest 18 meter wingsail, high-speed rudders and boards.
Photo: Felix Diemer for SailGP. Handout image supplied by SailGP
Teams competed across two groups – the league’s intended format for the remainder of the 2026 Season – with Group A bringing together Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Italy, Denmark, and Brazil, as Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, Germany, France, and Great Britain lined up in Group B.
Black Foils Set the Pace in Group A
NorthStar took the opener in Group A, with Giles Scott’s Canadian crew leading from the start to hold off Los Gallos, with Red Bull Italy third. Season leaders the Bonds Flying Roos dropped down the order after an early nose dive. In the group’s second race, Diego Botin’s Los Gallos passed NorthStar on the final leg to win – with NorthStar coming off the foils and slipping from second to fifth.
Photo: Ricardo Pinto for SailGP. Handout image supplied by SailGP
NorthStar strategist Annie Haeger said, “I think the team were absolutely crushing the start today, hitting the line at pace, within limited time to kill. We were sailing well, except for one or two little mistakes in race two. Unfortunately for us, two mistakes in a row cost us some four places.”
The Black Foils, last year’s Portsmouth winners, led from start to finish in Group A’s third race, while NorthStar recovered from a penalty to take second. The Kiwis lead their group into Day 2 with 11 points on the event leaderboard and Canada close behind.
“We had awesome conditions out there today in Portsmouth,” said New Zealand driver Peter Burling. “It felt very similar to the last time around – perfect conditions for our high-speed foils configuration.”
“The group racing’s just a bit different,” Burling continued. “I think today proved it was still pretty hard to pass at times. It was nice getting off the line on that last one and taking the win. It’s all to play for tomorrow.”
Consistency Puts Artemis at the Front of Group B
The United States took the opening race in Group B, with Taylor Canfield’s team leading the fleet ahead of Artemis and Explora Swiss. Artemis responded in the second race, winning from a clean start ahead of Explora Swiss and the United States, while the home team could manage only sixth.
Emirates Great Britain had the final word though: claiming the last race of the day in front of a thrilled Portsmouth crowd. The Germany SailGP Team presented by Deutsche Bank recovered from a near-capsize to complete the race.
Photo: Ricardo Pinto for SailGP. Handout image supplied by SailGP
“It was awesome to get the race win where we really needed it,” said Emirates GBR strategist Hannah Mills.
“It was a really tough course for overtaking,” continued Mills. “You’re relying on people in front of you making mistakes, boat-handling wise. There was a little bit of a one-way track today, in terms of that left gate at the bottom, and then tacking off the boundary and going across that way. So you kind of had to force it a little bit if you wanted an overtake. But just phenomenal conditions: top end, sunny, warm, everything we hope for from the UK.”
Delivering the most compelling performance of the day – one win and two second-place finishes – Artemis lead Group B heading into Day 2. Driver Nathan Outteridge called it “an awesome day sailing.”
“Good sunshine, good breeze, and we had a really nice warm-up, which gave us some confidence to push the boat hard in the racing. In conditions like that, it really does make a big difference to be able to push the boat hard,” Outteridge said.
Los Gallos Go Back-to-Back with Portsmouth SailGP Victory
Spain’s Los Gallos have claimed their second consecutive event win – defeating Artemis, Explora Swiss and Northstar – in a four-boat final that went down to the wire.
Photo: Ricardo Pinto for SailGP. Handout image supplied by SailGP
With the points tallied, Spain inched closer to Australia’s Bonds Flying Roos in the Rolex SailGP Championship standings, while Artemis moved into third overall – overtaking the United States and Emirates GBR after a standout weekend in Portsmouth.
Celebrating on-shore, winning driver Diego Botín called it, “An amazing weekend – with the conditions we had – very windy, with a small wing, which we love. It was amazing to get the win back to back after Halifax; it felt like we were gelling as a team in every aspect.”
Photo: Jason Ludlow for SailGP. Handout image supplied by SailGP
Finishing second, Artemis’ weekend scorecard never dipped below third – as the team picked up more points than any other team (19) on the event leaderboard. Driver Nathan Outteridge said, “We said we’ve got to start working on our consistency, and to get two finals in a row now, and two seconds, is really pleasing.”
Outteridge continued, “The final could have gone either way. We had the lead, we had a really good start, and it’s always tough when you get the choice of which top mark you want to take and the boat behind goes the other way and passes you. It’s a little tough, but the fact that we’re in the mix and doing all the basic things really well is really good.”
The weekend marked continued progress for Canada’s NorthStar SailGP Team, who finished third in their second event final of the season. The Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team finished fourth, a motivating result for driver Sébastien Schneiter as he continues to chase his inaugural event win.
Seeded into two groups, teams competed in two qualifying fleet races each – equipped once again with the high-speed 18-meter wingsail, rudders and foils to maximise top-end conditions. Despite a standout opening day, New Zealand’s Black Foils struggled in Group A – handed down two costly penalties in race four, which dropped last year’s Portsmouth winners to fifth.
In Group B, it was a frustrating event for Emirates GBR, whose hopes of a home Final were dashed after a series of mid-fleet results and a costly error in their fifth and final qualifying race of the day. Having finally found a strong start, the British crew came off the foils at the first mark and could recover only to sixth, ending their home campaign in the group stage.
Strategist Hannah Mills said, “We made a new plan today and got it together, but unfortunately the second race was a bit tricky with the Swiss boat, we were so close to each other going around that mark, and a boat handling error from us meant that the race was done. Then in the first race we made too many mistakes, particularly approaching the bottom marks. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get ourselves back where we need to be.”
Photo: Jon Buckle for SailGP. Handout image supplied by SailGP
It was also a weekend to forget for the Bonds Flying Roos, whose sole race win on Sunday came too late to rescue a campaign that never got going. The Championship leaders finished seventh overall, missing the final after a weekend that fell well below their usual standard.
Despite the results, British fans had plenty to celebrate – including the most competitive racing seen across the season to date, as every one of the ten group races in Portsmouth went to a different team.
With a ticketed crowd of 20,000 across the weekend, Emirates GBR driver Dylan Fletcher said, “The fans have been amazing, and all credit to the sport, despite us not delivering the result they wanted. It was amazing to see all the kids with their t-shirts on. So thanks for coming down, and hopefully we’ve inspired the next generation a little bit.”
Next month, the Rolex SailGP Championship races ahead to Germany for the second iteration of the ROCKWOOL Germany Sail Grand Prix | Sassnitz, August 22-23, 2026. Limited tickets remain – visit SailGP.com/Sassnitz to find out more.
