Abu Dhabi Grand Final: How Emirates GBR won the SailGP crown

Emirates GBR came back from a slow start in a thrilling three-way Grand Final in Abu Dhabi to defeat New Zealand and Australia and claim the cherished crown of 2025 SailGP champions.

After a frustrating opening day where light winds kept the F50s struggling to stay airborne, conditions improved slightly for Sunday’s Grand Final on the shores of Abu Dhabi. The breeze lifted to 6-7 knots, enough for the crews to spend most of the day foiling with four sailors aboard.

Spain’s Los Gallos arrived with their backs against the wall – six points behind Australia after a disastrous Saturday that left them bottom of the event leaderboard. The Flying Roos sat just one place ahead in 10th, just behind season leaders Emirates GBR.

With only two fleet races remaining before the three-boat Grand Final, the pressure was immense. Spain faced a brutal situation: they needed near-perfect results and for Australia to royally mess things up.

After a poor showing yesterday – finishing the day in 10th – Emirates GBR dominated the opening race with Dylan Fletcher threading his way through the pack to take a commanding victory.

Meanwhile, event leaders Denmark dropped the ball spectacularly. The Danes, who had looked untouchable on Saturday, spent most of Race 5 wallowing in last place before scraping up to tenth for a single, precious point. It was a nervy moment for Nicolai Sehested’s crew, still topping the event leaderboard by 10 points but suddenly putting that $800,000 prize pot in genuine peril.

Canada took second and Germany third, but all eyes were on the gladiatorial battle between Australia and Spain. Tom Slingsby’s crew had a shocker of a start, picking up a penalty that dropped them to 11th by the halfway point.

But in typical Slingsby fashion, the three-time SailGP champion refused to surrender, grinding his way back through the fleet to finish sixth – crucially, ahead of Diego Botín's Spanish team in seventh. Los Gallos’ hopes of defending their title was left hanging by a thread.

The final fleet race began with chaos at the start line. Great Britain, Italy and Brazil all picked up penalties for crossing early, immediately putting themselves on the back foot.

Denmark, desperate to secure that elusive event win after four seasons without one, nailed the start and led the fleet through the opening couple of legs. But Quentin Delapierre’s France had other ideas, overtaking the Danes midway through the race to take command.

Spain, needing nothing short of a miracle, had worked their way up to third place and were giving it everything. Meanwhile, Slingsby’s crew languished at the back of the fleet – and for the Australians, that was absolutely fine. Their job was simply to finish ahead of Spain in the overall standings, and watching Los Gallos battle for the race win while they drifted around at the back was a perfectly acceptable scenario.

Quentin Delapierre’s Les Bleus found their rhythm and pulled away to win the race, but second place was more than enough for Denmark to finally claim their first-ever Grand Prix victory and take home the $800,000 prize pot.

Emirates GBR’s fifth place was enough to secure them top spot on the season leaderboard and an extra $400,000. It was a strong finish for Italy under new driver Phil Robertson in second on the event podium, with Sebastien Schneiter’s Switzerland grabbing third.

But for Spain, it was all over. Even with the Flying Roos finishing way down in 10th, third place wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit from Saturday’s struggles. Diego Botín's crew fell agonisingly short of the Grand Final, leaving Emirates GBR, the Black Foils, and the Flying Roos to go through to the two-million-dollar showdown.

A nail-biting Grand Final featured each of the three teams grabbing the lead before losing it again.

Exploding off the start line, the Flying Roos foiled towards mark one with the best launch of the three finalists. But Dylan Fletcher’s team weren’t about to let Australia dictate the race. Tacking off early in search of cleaner air, Emirates GBR found three knots more breeze and quickly took first place.

The three boats were almost dead even at the midway point, crossing the third gate within seconds of each other. The Black Foils had worked their way into the lead and looked like they could finally claim their first ever championship title. Just when Pete Burling’s crew appeared to have it under control, Fletcher's team pounced. Britain piled in on the foils and stole the lead back.

From there, the British stretched their advantage relentlessly. By the end of the leg, they'd opened up a commanding 200-metre lead, and the race was effectively over. Fletcher kept his nerve, his crew executed flawlessly, and Emirates GBR crossed the line as the 2025 Rolex SailGP Champions.

Behind them, Slingsby’s Flying Roos pulled off a late move to snatch second from the Black Foils, leaving the Kiwis to settle for third.

An extremely competitive season ultimately resulted in the most consistent team of 2025 doing what was required when it counted most. Emirates GBR, having won four of 11 events plus the Grand Final, proved their dominance across the entire campaign.

The Season 5 champions won’t have much time to celebrate before they need to start defending that title – in less than two months SailGP Season 6 kicks off for the Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix on 17 January 2026. There the fleet will be joined by new team Artemis Sweden, setting up what promises to be an even more intense battle at the pinnacle of sailing.