2025 Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix: Reigning champion Spain falters on day one of season finale – The Athletic
Editor’s note: This story is part of The Athletic’s coverage of SailGP, an international sailing competition that has been likened to Formula 1 on water. Follow SailGP here.
Four teams remain in contention for outright victory in this season’s SailGP championship, but all four suffered a poor opening day in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Only three of the four will make it through to the season-deciding winner-takes-all race on Sunday, with defending champion Spain looking the least likely to reach the Grand Final after the team failed to make inroads on the current front three of Britain, New Zealand and Australia after finishing bottom of the day’s leaderboard.
The conditions in front of the Abu Dhabi skyline were dreadfully light, with the wind barely lifting above six knots. There was little to zero prospect of the crowd witnessing any full-on hydrofoiling from the fleet of 12 F50 catamarans. Instead of the usual complement of six crew on board, teams were reduced to just three sailors, keeping the all-up weight of the boat as light as possible.
Getting cleanly off the congested start line was, as ever, a big part of the puzzle. But sniffing out the best of the limited breeze was also high on the list of priorities. It was a game of minimizing the dreaded ‘H2’ mode, which is how the sailors and coaches describe two hulls floating in the water. Getting into ‘H1’ mode, which is one hull flying above the water, was the best anyone could hope for in sunny but lackluster conditions.
While the season favourites failed to make an impact, it was up to some of the mid-fleet contenders to seize their opportunity.
The Danish team were the standout performers, Nicolai Sehested making the most of the new wing rig which was issued to the whole fleet for the first time this week with two wins, a second and a third to lead the day’s standings.
“We had good speed all day,” the Danish driver told The Athletic. “The boat was going smoothly through the water with good, clean trimming and maneuvers. Normally in the light stuff we’re fighting in the pack, elbows out, but it all seemed to go well for us.”
Pete Burling must surely have been relieved to recover from a severe injury to his index finger three days ago during training. Slicing his finger during a maneuver, the New Zealand skipper was rushed to hospital for an operation. While others around the Kiwi team were concerned if he’d be ready in time, Burling told The Athletic after Saturday’s racing: “I never had much doubt I’d be racing. It was good to get out for the Friday session and it healed quicker than I thought.”
With such light winds, the downdraft from the TV camera helicopters was having its effect on the racing, as Australian driver Tom Slingsby told The Athletic.
“I politely asked if the helicopters could keep a bit more distance after yesterday’s (Friday) practice session, but they were still affecting the racing. If that’s the way it’s got to be, then fine, it’s the same for everyone.”
“If that’s part of the game, we’ve got to see where the helicopter’s moving and try to follow it,” he added, laughing.
The SailGP fleet ahead of racing in Abu Dhabi. (Bob Martin for SailGP)
The British team finished 10th in Saturday’s leaderboard, level on 11 points with Australia, but driver Dylan Fletcher was unperturbed.
“We don’t want to ever be that far back, and no doubt we didn’t get great starts early on, although we started to improve by the end of the afternoon,” he told The Athletic.
“We’d like to win the season points battle, but the most important focus is getting into that Grand Final.”
On Sunday, there will be two fleet races before the top three in the season’s overall leaderboard go through to the Grand Final and have a chance to compete for the $2million prize.
