Spain Sail Grand Prix 2026: Day 1 Races Recap: Red Bull shine, but it’s the usual favorites for Sunday glory
A great day’s racing saw an 11.11 winner taking Race 1 in Group A, but the standings and latest odds suggest Los Gallos and the Bonds Flying Roos will be fighting it out in Sunday’s Final once again.
The two Championship leaders are doing what they do best
There are four teams currently at odds of under 6.0 to go on and win the Spain Sail Grand Prix after a fascinating day’s racing in Valencia.
Saturday’s racing had a nice mix of predictable results, with the pre-event favorites flexing their muscles, while one team defied predictions, betting odds and the championship standings to have their moment in the sun on the Spanish eastern coast.
First up, the favorites. Over in Group A, the Bonds Flying Roos SailGP Team, fresh from that Grand Prix win in Sassnitz a couple of weeks ago, picked up a runner-up finish in Race 1, a win in Race 2 and a fourth-place finish in Race 3 to sit top of Group A on 11 points. With yet another Final for them on the horizon, they’re into just 1.08 to make that Final and 3.85 to go on and win Sunday’s four-boat showdown.
That 3.85 to go and win is the same price as the one currently available on Los Gallos SailGP Team, who trumped the Bonds Flying Roos’ 11 points with 14 of their own, courtesy of back-to-back wins in the day’s opening two races over in Group B followed by a runner-up finish in Race 3. It was certainly a near-perfect Saturday for them in front of their adoring home fans.
At odds of 1.04, they’re even shorter than the Australians to make the Final, and readers of our pre-event betting previews will remember that they were highlighted as an excellent value bet to go on and win the Spain Sail Grand Prix at odds of 6.67, a betting tip that had as much to do with being in the seemingly easier Group B as it was to do with their outstanding form over the last couple of months or so.
So whatever happens from here, Los Gallos are looking likely to give you a good run for your money if you took our advice, while the bookies (so far) have proved to be on the money, seeing as the two pre-event favourites are red-hot favorites to at the very least make Sunday’s Final, and joint-favorites to go and win that one.
ROCKWOOL and U.S. SailGP Team fighting it out to make Sunday’s Final
At odds of 4.65, the ROCKWOOL Racing SailGP Team are also contenders for what would be their first event win of the season after a day’s racing that had a beautiful symmetry to it: third in Race 1, second in Race 2 and a win in Race 3 to collect 12 points for the day, though the U.S. SailGP Team, on 10 points, can’t be ruled out, either.
If you think the Americans can add to their shock win at the KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix, now is the time to do so: they’re a big-looking 10.53 to win it and have proven they can handle the pressure of the big occasion already once this season. For a more conservative wager, you can take the 2.69 that they just make the Final and not have to worry about what happens after that.
That’s not a price to easily dismiss. As per our SailGP status guru Sundaram Ramaswami and as highlighted in our live blog, only Tom Slingsby and his team have made as many Finals in Spanish events as the Americans, so the latter have good previous form when it comes to making Sunday’s decider.
How Red Bull Italy SailGP Team had wings on Saturday
But the stand-out betting story of the day didn’t involve any of those teams just mentioned.
Instead, it fell to the Red Bull Italy SailGP Team to provide the day’s big upset by winning Race 1 in Group A at pre-event odds of 11.11.
No disrespect to the Italians, but this is somewhat uncharted territory for them, so it was even more impressive when they followed that up with a race win in the day’s final race, too.
Sandwiched between those two superb victories was a last-place (seventh) finish in Race 2, but 10 points on the board after the first day’s racing could well prove to be enough for a rare appearance in the Final, especially when you consider that the team chasing them down – Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team – have struggled over the past few events and making up a three-point difference with just two races to go on Sunday, won’t be so easy.
If Phil Robertson and his team were to go on and win this week’s event – out of curiosity, the 50th Event Final in the history of SailGP – then they’d be doing so at one of the highest pre-event prices ever seen: 18.18. They’re now just 5.71, but still odds-on at 1.97 to at least be in the Sunday Final.
A sixth different winner in Spain?
If Saturday’s action taught us anything, it’s that a fast start is halfway to winning the race. All of Saturday’s wins were secured by the team hitting that Mark 1 first, and if conditions remain the same, it could be a similar story again on Sunday.
Time to leave you with our final quirky stat of the day: each of the four previous SailGP events in Spain has been won by a different team: the Bonds Flying Roos, DS Team France, the United States and Emirates Great Britain.
With three of the four current favorites to win tomorrow not having tasted victory in Spain before, that could well become five different winners in five Spanish events.
So what’s going to happen tomorrow?
A new winner once again, or yet another Sunday evening of watching Tom Slingsby spraying champagne everywhere, a very familiar sight for SailGP fans this season?
Only one way to find out, so remember to tune in on TV or live streaming here on the SailGP site, or by following our excellent Live Blog. Your choice.
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