SailGP: Champions lay down the gauntlet as Emirates GBR win season opener in Perth

The British outfit, who were crowned Rolex SailGP Champions in Abu Dhabi in November, sailed a near-perfect second day to take the opening spoils of the 2026 Season.

“An incredible result for us,” Emirates GBR driver Dylan Fletcher said. “We’re stoked. Right now I feel on cloud nine – I’m buzzing that we get to sail these boats in conditions like that.”

With the infamous Fremantle Doctor sea breeze pulsing through the race course off Bathers Beach the stage was set for an epic showdown in Perth.

After a tricky first day Emirates GBR came out firing on Sunday, winning two of the three fleet races to book themselves a spot in the three-team winner-takes-all Final.

DS Automobiles Team France continued their run of form to earn their shot at the Final, while home team the BONDS Flying Roos took advantage of a stuttering Artemis SailGP to book the remaining place.

A perfect start saw Emirates GBR take an early lead, pushed hard by DS Team France, while the BONDS Flying Roos were forced to cross the line behind their rivals after picking up a boundary penalty before the gun had fired.

A model of consistency, the British outfit were flawless and fast, clocking a 100 per cent fly-time despite meter-high waves constantly threatening to spoil their party.

All eyes were on Emirates GBR’s new wing trimmer Stuart Bithell, who joined from Germany by Deutsche Bank replacing previous incumbent Iain Jensen.

SailGP commentator Stevie Morrison called Bithell “the most under pressure athlete in SailGP” – but he rose to the challenge, guiding his new team round the seven-leg course in style.

“So good!” Bithell was heard on the radio saying as his new team crossed the finish line with a healthy lead to notch up the first win of the 2026 Rolex SailGP Championship.

Tom Slingsby’s BONDS Flying Roos put on a show for the sellout home crowd, stealing second place from DS Team France in a photo finish right in front of the SailGP Grandstands.

“It hurts losing to the British on home turf,” Slingsby said. “We won the Ashes at least. We’ll pick up our slack and try to get one back on them at our next home event in Sydney.”

For Artemis, the overnight leaders after a stellar first day, it wasn’t to be with an 11th in the seventh fleet race dropping them out of the top three.

“Fourth is an awesome result,” driver Nathan Outteridge said. “It’s always hard to go from leading to missing the podium on day two but I’m proud of the team.

“What a result – if you would have said four months ago we would have been fighting for podium and winning races I would have taken that.”

Day two’s testing conditions also got the better of the US SailGP Team, tied on points at the top of the leaderboard after the opening day, and a trio of high-scoring races saw them slip out of contention and into fifth overall.

“It was an incredible day – probably one of the hardest in SailGP history,” driver Taylor Canfield said. “It wasn’t our best day, execution-wise – we made some silly errors, but we made huge strides. We have a solid base in big breeze that we’re super pleased about.”

Fans won’t have to wait long for their SailGP fix – the next event, the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland, takes place on February 14-15.

Grab yourself a ticket HERE – or find out how to follow from wherever you are in the world HERE.

Text and images courtesy of SailGP.com.