SailGP: BONDS Flying Roos pull off sensational three-peat with victory in New York

The Australians, who came into the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix as the form team of the Rolex SailGP Championship, were forced to fight from behind on a brutally difficult final day, with patchy breeze and constant shifts turning the racecourse into a moving puzzle.

Slingsby admitted the team had been “on the back foot all day” before producing a decisive final-race performance when it mattered most.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” he said. “We were just trying to claw our way back into the racing, and then that last race was exciting and we got away with it – a close one.”

The Final delivered a heart-stopping finish, with the BONDS Flying Roos and Emirates GBR locked in a tense battle to the line before the umpires ruled in Australia’s favour.

“The finish was a bit wild,” Slingsby said. “We thought we had the rights, they thought they had the rights, and the umpires ruled in our favour. Three-time winners – we’re very happy.”

Slingsby described the conditions as “one of the hardest days sailing” of his life and paid tribute to the team behind the scenes.

“I thought we weren’t going to be racing,” he said. “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.”

The win strengthens the BONDS Flying Roos’ grasp on the season leaderboard, extending their lead to 11 points.

The mood onboard the British F50 couldn’t have been more different.

After finishing dead last in Rio and fifth in Bermuda, the reigning Rolex SailGP Champions looked back to full force in New York, winning the opener and booking a spot in the Final with two more solid results.

A duel between the Brits and their Aussie arch rivals couldn’t have been any closer – but a last-gasp attempt by driver Dylan Fletcher to hold off Slingsby at the final mark backfired.

“We felt like we got back into the race, and we thought it was a penalty to the Australians at the end – it was pretty black and white from where we were that they weren’t doing enough to stay clear,” Fletcher fumed.

A much-improved NorthStar made their first Final since the 2025 Season San Francisco Sail Grand Prix more than a year ago, but struggled to keep pace with the two SailGP heavyweights and ultimately had to settle for third.

The Final concluded a dramatic Grand Prix that saw the leaderboard zeroed after the opening day due to high winds preventing the majority of the fleet from being able to be craned into the water.

The chaos continued as Los Gallos were forced to miss all three fleet races due to technical issues, before event leaders the U.S. SailGP Team were involved in a start line collision with Red Bull Italy and Mubadala Brazil in race three, ending their hopes of a home win.

No athletes were injured but Red Bull Italy’s F50 was badly damaged. They will face a race against time to make the next event – the Canada Sail Grand Prix | Halifax – in just three weeks.

Text and images courtesy of SailGP.com.