06/03/2026
by James Pacheco
The Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix had a bit of everything, but once all was said and done, it was the BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team winning yet again, making it three on the spin. But read on to find out what was happening around them in the Big Apple, before Sunday’s historic win.
Yes, They Could
The big question ahead of the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix was: can the BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team win three in a row?
If they could, it would be no small feat. Not only are these the best sailing teams in the world out there at every event, but the very different conditions at each separate racecourse mean there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to winning a Rolex SailGP Championship event. Each one requires meticulous planning and flawless real-time execution amid ever-changing conditions.
But the simple answer to the question was: yes, they could. In a dramatic final on Sunday, it went down to the wire between them and the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, with a decision by the umpires about the racing at the final mark going the way of the Australians.
Why Saturday’s Results Were Chalked Off
The BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team’s driver Tom Slingsby is no stranger to defying the odds in getting his team over the line.
Whereas it’s true that the Aussies were the favorites going into the New York event – priced up at 3.33 – it’s also true that at various stages it looked like that three-peat wasn’t on the cards.
A huge nosedive in the warm-up caused by an on-board hydraulic issue meant that they didn’t even get out on the water at all on Saturday.
They were just one of our teams scheduled to race on Saturday – alongside Emirates GBR, Los Gallos SailGP Team and the United States SailGP Team – with extreme conditions including strong winds and delayed craning limiting the fleet to just the top four in the Championship standings. But those four became three, with the Aussies ruled out.
But the Aussies benefited from the fact that all results from Saturday were chalked off. In the words of SailGP, the decision to remove results from Saturday’s racing had been taken ‘in the interest of maintaining the integrity and fairness of competition.”
Slingsby’s Unlikely Route To the Final
It meant the BONDS Flying Roos’ absence from Saturday’s three fleet races didn’t cost them at all. If it had, they would have gone into Sunday trailing both Emirates GBR and Los Gallos.
There was a further slice of luck going their way when Los Gallos withdrew from Sunday’s proceedings due to technical issues. Though, as we know, Los Gallos wouldn’t have carried any points gained from Saturday’s performance into Sunday, it’s also true that the incredibly consistent Los Gallos being out of the picture for Sunday could only have helped Slingsby’s cause, both in terms of getting to the Final in the first place, and then winning it.
As did the start line collision between the U.S. SailGP Team, the Red Bull Italy SailGP Team and the Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team at the start of Sunday’s final fleet race. Taylor Canfield’s team were leading the event at the time, but that crash cost them a place in the final.
The Americans had looked in excellent shape up to that point, with a runner-up spot in Sunday’s first race, followed by a win in the second, putting them in pole position to qualify for the final, before the unfortunate collision. And with an event win for the season already under their belts, allied with home advantage and huge local crowd support, they would have been very competitive in the Final.
A good finish for the Americans in that final race could well have prevented the Australians from making the Final at all.
Slingsby Wins Against the Odds
But we must give credit where it’s due.
Not only did Slingsby not have the benefit of racing on Saturday to acclimatise to conditions, which Emirates GBR did, but he somehow found a way to get his F50 in that Final. That was looking unlikely when he finished just ninth in Sunday’s first race, before a runner-up spot in Race 2 and a third-placed finish in Race 3 got them there, aided as we know, by the Americans’ crash.
And it wasn’t just their opponents’ boats they had to contend with; it was also their own. In the words of Slingsby:
“I thought we weren’t going to be racing. We had that many broken things and problems, and the shore team just got us back together and got us back out there. We owe this one to them.”
As for the conditions on Sunday: “one of the hardest days sailing (of my life).”
But once they got to the final, the Australians made it count to secure that three-in-a-row.
What Happened Elsewhere?
Emirates GBR justified their status as the 4.55 pre-event second-favorites by finishing as runners-up. It was a welcome return to form after two disappointing events and brought a further nine priceless points on the board in the Championship standings. But they will have felt the event win was there for the taking as they looked strong favorites when taking a valuable lead in Sunday’s final.
A word on the NorthStar SailGP Team. With plenty of chaos going on all around them, they found a way to top the standings after Sunday’s fleet races and book their well-deserved place in the final. As it happens, they didn’t make the most of their chance, finishing third overall, but they exceeded expectations over the course of the weekend.
And if Emirates GBR will have been disappointed with nine points rather than 10, that’s nothing compared to Los Gallos. After looking in fine form on Saturday and expecting a place in the final at the very least before the day’s results were wiped out, they ended the event with zero points because they didn’t take part in any of the races that ultimately mattered.
How has New York Affected the Championship Outright Odds?
In the case of the BONDS Flying Roos: it hasn’t.
They were 2.44 to win the season, and they’re still 2.44 to win the season. The bookies seem to have made peace with the fact that, unless something very unusual happens, they’re almost certain to make the final. But it’s still a three-way, one-off shootout once they get there, and anything could happen in it. So even if they keep winning events, don’t expect those odds on the Aussies to go all the way this season to shorten significantly, or at all.
As for Emirates GBR, they’re another team looking like strong contenders to make that Grand Final, and even more so now they’ve got another nine points on the board. They’re into 2.63 from a pre-New York price of 2.79.
Los Gallos have lengthened to 6.67 from 4.14 before this weekend’s event, evidence that those zero points on Sunday could prove very costly. But it’s far too soon to rule them out.