Emirates GBR, the reigning SailGP Champions, arrived in Valencia looking to turn their form around after a difficult run of results in Halifax, Portsmouth and Sassnitz. With the 2026 Season entering its decisive final stages, the window of opportunity is narrowing as the Brits look to rediscover the form that took them to the title last season.
For Emirates GBR, the challenge is no longer simply about defending their Championship crown. Sitting fourth overall, they need to start closing the gap to the teams ahead, including Artemis, who are seven points clear, as the battle intensifies to qualify for the winner-takes-all, three-team Season Grand Final in Abu Dhabi.
On day one of the Spanish Sail Grand Prix, light winds saw the F50s configured with the 27.5 meter big wings and light-wind foils and rudders, with the aim of keeping the boats flying for as long as possible in the marginal conditions.
Under SailGP’s now regular split-fleet format, the 12 teams were divided into two groups, with two teams from each group set to qualify for Sunday’s event final following five fleet races per group.
Emirates GBR were drawn in Group A, alongside Australia, Sweden, New Zealand, Switzerland, Brazil and Italy. In their opening race, Sweden’s Artemis SailGP Team experienced an issue with its jib set-up ahead of the start and was granted a two-minute delay, with each team permitted one delay per race day. However, Artemis were unable to resolve the issue in time and missed the race.
Emirates GBR managed to thread the needle in a tight start, with the fleet pushing the line hard. GBR rounded the first mark in third, behind Italy and Australia. A touch-and-go manoeuvre around the top mark allowed the British team to remain in third as the crews battled to stay on the foils in the light conditions.
SailGP commentator Lisa Darmanin described it as a “shoulder course”, with every team searching for the same areas of breeze and largely following each other around the course.
GBR opted for the left-hand side of the course, splitting from the fleet and looking to reduce the number of manoeuvres on the approach to the final mark. The move ultimately cost them a position in an incredibly tight finish. GBR approached the final mark battling Brazil and Switzerland, eventually creating an overlap with Switzerland by just a five centimetre gap, leading them to secure fourth place.
Emirates GBR came out firing in their second fleet race with a late-start strategy, starting at the opposite end of the line to Australia before the two teams raced to get onto the foils and reach the first mark.
GBR were narrowly behind Australia at Mark 1 as the teams once again battled to stay flying in conditions similar to the opening race. The British team took few risks from there, following Australia around the course to secure a strong second-place finish as the conditions became more stable.
© Samo Vidic for SailGP
Samo Vidic for SailGP
In their final race of the day, Emirates GBR were quick onto the foils at the start and made another strong opening, rounding the first mark in second place behind Italy.
With the race committee calling for four-up racing, the teams looked to minimise manoeuvres and maximise flight time in the extremely light conditions.
On the final run to the line, Fletcher acknowledged over the race comms that the left-hand side was favoured but opted to stay on the foils on the right during a close cross with Sweden.
It remained incredibly tight heading into the final mark, with both Sweden and GBR dropping off the foils. Sweden managed to get flying first and crossed the line in third, while Australia found clean air and came through to overhaul the British team, leaving Emirates GBR fifth.
The result leaves Emirates GBR third in Group A, three points behind Italy and four behind Australia, with two fleet races remaining before the top two progress to Sunday’s event final.
In Group B, the home fans were treated to a masterclass from Spain’s Los Gallos SailGP Team, who won two of the three races and narrowly finished second in the final race of the day to take a commanding lead in the group.
© Jason Ludlow for SailGP
Jason Ludlow for SailGP
Dylan Fletcher, Driver of the Emirates GBR SailGP Team, said:
“It was quite light out there, but saw some great racing, and it was incredibly tight in our fleet. I’m happy with how we’re improving and how we sailed the boat compared to the last few events.
“We left some points on the table, particularly in the final race, but overall, it was a positive day for the team. We need to keep pushing and put together a good day tomorrow.
“As ever in SailGP, anything can happen going into the second day. We just need to stick to our processes, keep improving and make sure we take our opportunities.”
British fans can watch the second day of racing exclusively live on TNT Sports from 12:30 BST.