SailGP: Brits win Grand Final, Denmark win Event – Abu Dhabi – Day 2
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 30 Nov 12:22 UTC
Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, lift the SailGP Championship trophy Race Day 2 of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix Season Grand Final – November 30, 2025 © Andrew Baker/SailGP
Emirates Great Britain have won the Grand Final of SailGP in Abu Dhabi, after a bold move on the second downwind leg, allowing them to move through the Black Foils (NZL) on the opposite side of the course.
The British team never backed off, and extended to lead comfortably on what became a one way course, thereafter.
The telling statistic of the Grand Final was the Foiling Percentage, with the British recording 98.3% compared well above the Kiwis and Australians, who both paid the price of being caught in lower pressure on the Leg 4, when they struggled to foil and the Australians particularly so.
Emirates Great Britain took the USD $2million first prize, and won over $4million in Season 5.
The Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix 2025 Season Grand Final, presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council, was sailed in stronger winds than Saturday’s drift-fest, and aside from the occasional snafu, most were able to foil at will.
Tow races were staged ahead of the Grand Final, to determine the winner of the Abu Dhabi event, and the final three teams that would go through to the Grand Final.
Rockwool Denmark skippered by Nicholai Sehested, maintained their top position on the leaderboard, to win the Abu Dhabi event, with Red Bull Italy recording their first ever podium with France Les Bleus, winning the Bronze.
Australia came close to elimination as the fourth overall Spanish team moved into third place with the Australians in last place. Try as they might, Diego Botin’s Los Gallos could not make an impression on second placed Rockwool Denmark, or the race leader Les Bleus France. A win in the race would have been sufficient for Spain to get through to the Grand Final, and defend their Season 4 Grand Final title.
Australia had the early lead in the Grand Final winning the Sprint Leg off the start and around Mark 1, with New Zealand and Britain locked side by side, and well astern. The Brits were first to gybe onto port and head for the right hand, or Grandstand side of the course, dropping back to third almost immediately.
Then it was Australia’s turn as they led around Mark 2 and headed right, coming off the foils as they tacked off the Grandstand side and dropping back to third. Then it was the Kiwis turn to come off the foils in their tack out of the right hand corner and sailed at displacement speed all the way back to Gate 3.
The $2million move from the Brits came at Gate 3, where the British came in from the left hand side in third place, passing astern of the Black Foils and Australia, and headed for the Grandstand side.
Before they’d even sailed 100 metres down the fourth leg, the British moved into the lead, picking up a shift and better pressure. On the other side both Antipodeans were on a higher angle and struggled in the gybe – with the Flying Roo’s coming off the foils completely, while the Black Foils dipped their bow in, before recovering and having to hot up the angle to get back onto the foils.
The flat spot was the Anzac’s undoing, as on the opposite side of the course the British picked up the left hand shift, foiled and fast at a killer angle for the bottom mark, which they made in one gybe. The other two could only wave goodbye, with the British crossing both and enjoying a lead of over 100 metres as they passed the 200 metre mark.
With that advantage there was little Australian or New Zealand could do to recover, unless the British ran out of pressure, or scored an own goal.
The two back-markers crossed over to the right hand, or Grandstand side and gybed into a position which crystallised the British margin at over 200 metres.
From there, it was a procession up the left hand side of the short fifth leg, before the Brits turned for the finish, and 8m 13sec after the start were US$2million richer.
There was more drama to come as New Zealand dropped off their foils approaching the final mark allowing Australia to close the gap, and with a faster rounding Australia were able to sail though the Kiwi’s lee on the short leg to the Finish, and recorded second place in the three boat final.
“We just kept chipping away at the opportunities, and the team did a great job,” was skipper Dylan Fletcher’s understated summary of the race and $2million win.
The British team topped the Season earnings table with a total of $4,400,000, followed by the Black Foils on $1,760,000, and Flying Roos on $1,200,000 and Los Gallos (ESP) were the fourth team to make the Million Dollar Club with earnings also of $1,200,000.
Season 6 starts on January 17, 2026 in Perth WA, in the meantime the new team Artemis Racing was launched today and will sail for five days in Abu Dhabi. the Transfer Season window also starts now and announcements of hires and transfers are expected in the coming days.
