Great Britain have been crowned SailGP champions for the first time by winning Sunday’s three-way grand final in Abu Dhabi.
The British team, led on the water by driver Dylan Fletcher, finished ahead of three-time champions Australia in a winner-takes-all medal race to claim the $2m (£1.5m) first prize, while New Zealand were third.
Fletcher’s crew, which included two-time Olympic champion Hannah Mills as on-board strategist, were trailing but overhauled Australia’s ‘Flying Roos’ and the New Zealand ‘Black Foils’ on the fourth leg.
“It’s pretty unbelievable,” Fletcher, 37, told BBC Sport after leading the team to victory in his first season as driver.
“I am just really proud of the whole team pulling together. We came out firing today.
“That final was just how the SailGP championship has been unfolding – it’s incredibly tight between all of the top teams and I’m just absolutely buzzing to take the win and beat the best of the best.”
The top three boats in the overall leaderboard following the 14-regatta season qualified for the grand final.
The British Emirates GBR team, which has four-time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie as its CEO, qualified with the best overall record of the 12 competing crews with 100 points.
They were eight points ahead of New Zealand, who were also aiming for their first overall title, while the Australians pipped last season’s champions Spain by just five points to seal their place as the third qualifier.
Mills, who won Olympic silver at the 2012 Games in London before claiming gold at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, used all her experience to help mastermind GB’s route from last place in the final to first over the finish line.
“For us it was just about staying cool, staying in the race, making the right decisions and waiting for the opportunity,” said the 37-year-old Welsh sailor.
“We did a pretty good job of staying cool as definitely there was a lot of stress on board.”
Ainslie, the team leader, who will also be spearheading Britain’s challenge for the 2027 America’s Cup, believes the debut SailGP title bodes well for the future.
“These are the best sailors in the world,” said the 48-year-old.
“In just over a year’s time they are going to be competing in Naples in the America’s Cup. It will be the same talent – be that in the America’s Cup or the Women’s America’s Cup – and we want to be on top.”
Ainslie’s Ineos Britannia team lost to New Zealand in the final of the 2024 America’s Cup. Britain has never won the trophy in the competition’s 173-year history.
