07/23/2026
by James Pacheco
In the second of our Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix betting previews, we look at the latest odds on the ‘To make the final’ market and why the Black Foils v Bonds Flying Roos head-to-head market may hold a good-value bet in it.
As explained in our first betting preview of the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix, the fleet will be split into two groups in Portsmouth for the first day, using the group racing model.
For the record, the groups were determined by results at the Canada Sail Grand Prix just over a month ago using the ABBA format: so the winner of the previous event is in Group A, second in Group B, third in Group B, and so on.
All of which means the groups look like this:
- Group A: ESP, AUS, NZL, CAN, ITA, DEN, BRA
- Group B: SWE, SUI, USA, GER, FRA, GBR
Our preview also highlighted that the change in format makes the racing more unpredictable and has reduced the gulf in the event winner odds, so that the favorites are higher prices than they would normally be, and outsiders are slightly shorter than usual.
Food For Thought On the Make the Final Market
But if picking the winner in an open field made up of 13 different teams who are all more than capable of winning isn’t for you, then maybe the ‘Make the Final’ market may be an easier nut to crack.
One of the consequences of the shift to group racing is that there will now be four teams contesting the final, rather than three, so in a way it’s slightly easier to make the final than before. Though tougher to win once you get there.
The team with the shortest odds to make the final is the Bonds Flying Roos SailGP Team at 1.65.
No surprises there: they’re the Championship leaders and have contested six of the seven finals so far this season, including last time out at the Canada Sail Grand Prix, also a four-boat final.
Ironically, the only event where they didn’t make the final was their home one: the KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix.
Two From Three in Group A?
So making finals is familiar territory for them, and this should be no more than a formality for the Aussies, right? Maybe not.
The reason for that is that they’ve certainly ended up in the toughest of the two Groups on the back of those results in Halifax.
They’re in the same group as Los Gallos SailGP Team, second in the Championship standings, as well as their Antipodean rivals, the Black Foils SailGP Team.
Based on SailGP’s historical results, those are three of the Championship’s four strongest teams (Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team being the other), and the smart money is on two from that trio making the final.
One thing worth remembering about Tom Slingsby’s team, though, is that their fourth-place finish in Canada was their lowest points tally since Sydney back in the third event of the season. So by their sky-high standards, they may not be at their absolute best just now.
But if the bookies have decided that the Aussies are still the most likely team of all to make another final, they can’t split the next two, with Los Gallos and the Black Foils both 2.5 to be in Sunday’s showdown.
Based on last year’s results, the slight preference of the three at the odds would probably be the Kiwis. After all, they didn’t just make last year’s final: they won it.
Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team Hot Favorites In Group B
The other two teams who made last year’s final here in Portsmouth were the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team (runners-up last year), available at 2.08, and the Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team, on offer at 3.85, who coincidentally were also third last time out at the Canada Sail Grand Prix, in addition to finishing third here in Portsmouth last year.
The Artemis SailGP Team, who have made two finals from seven so far this year, are 2.63 to make a third, while the team currently fourth in the Championship standings – the United States SailGP Team – are 2.5.
One would expect some money to come in for Emirates GBR at those odds of 2.08 for a team with a record of four finals from seven so far. And that’s to go with an event win and an impressive performance the last time we were here in Portsmouth, though they weren’t at their best in Halifax last month, finishing way down in 11th, though of course that was due to a damaged boat, not poor results out on the water.
Finally, an interesting price worth flagging up is the 2.35 that the Kiwis outperform the Aussies here on the English South Coast. A reminder that in a head-to-head market such as that one, the only thing that matters is how one team performed compared to the other, not where they finished in relation to everyone else.
Not only did the Black Foils win here last season (the Aussies finished fourth), but back in 2023 the Kiwis also finished higher than their rivals in the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix, though that was in Plymouth, not Portsmouth.
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