05/12/2026
by James Pacheco
There’s plenty to play for when the ENEL Rio Sail Grand Prix gets underway on Saturday, April 11, and as ever, the best possible start with a win in Fleet Race 1 builds confidence and momentum for the rest of the event. Not to mention, it gets you 10 priceless points on the board that could make all the difference in terms of making Sunday’s final.
Let’s take a look at who the early favorites are to win Race 1, plus the odds on some of the other markets.
Championship Front Runners Favorites for Race 1…As Expected
As explained in our main betting preview of the ENEL Rio Sail Grand Prix, there are two familiar names at the head of the betting to go on and win the fourth event of the season: the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team and the BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team, who trade at 3.76 and 3.89 respectively.
So it follows that these two are also the favorites to draw first blood in Race 1.
The Brits are 4.46, the Aussies are 4.93.
Then it’s Los Gallos SailGP Team at 9.33, who are just a bit shorter in the betting than the ROCKWOOL Racing SailGP Team, available at 9.52. Surprise winners last time out of the KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix event, the U.S SailGP Team, are 9.6.
Three Excellent Reasons to Back the Aussies for Race 1 Win
This is the first time a Rolex SailGP Championship event will be taking place here in Guanabara Bay, so there’s no form to go on as regards who’s made fast starts here in the past.
But it’s a very different story when we look at who’s hit the water running in the three events so far this season.
Remarkably, Tom Slingsby has led his BONDS Flying Roos team to victory in Race 1 in all three events so far, meaning that if you were in any doubt as to who the fast starters have been this season, you shouldn’t be.
Despite going off as favorites to take Saturday’s opening race, the form book shows the best Emirates GBR has had to show for their efforts in the event’s first race was their third place last time out in Sydney.
The conclusion should be an obvious one: it’s Slingsby and co who rate an excellent wager for Race 1 here in Rio at 4.93, rather than Fletcher and his crew.
Don’t Dimiss DS
If you’d rather chance your arm on the Race 1 Top 3 finish, then look no further than the DS Automobiles SailGP Team France.
They may not be able to quite rival the remarkable record of the Aussies in opening races, but back-to-back runner-up spots in Perth and Auckland in Race 1 are results to be respected. You can back them at a value price of 4.43 for another Race 1 Top 3 finish here.
An alternative is to back them at 2.97 on the head-to-head market against Emirates GBR; it’s a bet that would have won in the first two events of the season, though not the third.
But if you do fancy siding with Fletcher and his team this weekend, there’s a bet out there that is probably the safest one of the bunch, though predictably, the bookies are not giving much away on it.
The Brits have made all three finals so far this season and are 1.31 to so here in Rio yet again on the ‘To make the final’ market.
Starting points for our US readers
Starting points for our UK readers
Starting points for our Global readers
SailGP at Prediction Market Sites
