Black Foils deny home victory in thrilling Portsmouth SailGP finale
Image courtesy of Simon Bruty/SailGP.
It was heartbreak for Emirates GBR on home waters as New Zealand’s Black Foils edged out the British team in a dramatic final race to win the inaugural Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix, Portsmouth on Sunday 20 July.
Pete Burling’s crew clinched victory in the nail-biting three-boat showdown, pushing Emirates GBR into second place, while Switzerland’s SailGP team took third in their first-ever event final.
The MIN team were in Portsmouth for the final day and witnessed the action from the grandstands as the racing kicked off, with high-speed foiling catamarans (F50s) racing in a designated course area.
Day two saw all 12 national teams battle various racecourse obstacles, the short solent chop and a number of technical issues forcing speedy, pit-lane repairs. Australia missed out on their second-consecutive event final – a result driver Tom Slingsby said he was “not happy” about – while usual heavyweights Spain also finished sixth on the weekend leaderboard.
After dominating Saturday’s races, the home team went into the final on top, with a roaring crowd at Southsea Common behind them. But New Zealand had other ideas.
“It was nice racing out there,” says New Zealand SailGP team’s co-CEO and driver, Peter Burling, after the win. “We were riding some pretty challenging conditions and to pull off today, as a group, we’re super pleased. Going into the European series as the winners is something we’re really proud of and we’re looking forward to continuing to build on that. I’m really pleased with the way we fought today.”
The Brits put up a strong fight but couldn’t quite match the Kiwis in the shortened-course final. “Obviously, we’re pretty gutted not to win,” says Emirates GBR’s strategist Hannah Mills. “We felt like this weekend, everyone was sailing so well, so to not quite manage to do it in the final is obviously super disappointing. But I think as a team, we’re just so proud of how we bounced back after a couple of rough events.”
Switzerland also had much to celebrate, with a well-earned spot in the final. Technical issues saw them drop back in the final moments, but driver Sébastien Schneiter remains upbeat: “I’m super proud and happy to make our first final – I think we deserve it. We worked really hard as a team, and we sailed well all weekend.”
Further down the leaderboard, France SailGP Team completed one of the event’s most impressive turnarounds. After being ruled out of day one following a wing failure, the team returned with a freshly repaired rig to score a first and second in Sunday’s fleet races.
The Rolex SailGP Championship is fast becoming a fixture on the global sailing calendar. Dubbed the ‘Formula One of the sea’, the series features national teams racing identical, cutting-edge F50 catamarans, which can reach speeds of up to 100 km/h (62 mph). The Portsmouth event highlighted how stadium-style racing is helping sailing become more accessible to spectators, drawing huge crowds and big-name investors from across sport, entertainment and beyond.
According to SailGP experts onsite, the grandstands were the largest ever seen at a SailGP event. The entire weekend ran smoothly, with world-class racing just metres from shore and a buzzing atmosphere that reached its peak as Pete Tong closed the event with an electric hour-long DJ set that had all ages dancing in the stands.
Despite the growing professionalism and high-tech boats, SailGP remains at the mercy of the weather. Fortunately, Sunday’s steady breeze created ‘Goldilocks’ race conditions allowing the full programme to go ahead on schedule.
With New Zealand now top of the season leaderboard, and Emirates GBR closing the gap to third-place Spain by just one point, the championship moves to its next stop: the first-ever SailGP Germany event in Sassnitz, on 16–17 August.
For Portsmouth, it’s a debut to remember – not only for the close racing, but for the sheer scale and slick operations coupled with an electric atmosphere that left fans wanting more.
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