The Swedish outfit, led by ‘wind whisperer’ Nathan Outteridge, showed remarkable firepower and precision on their SailGP debut to lead the pack heading into Sunday’s racing.

The start of the 2026 Season began with trademark action as the F50 fleet tussled in glamour conditions off Bathers Beach in front of a sell-out crowd.

In fact, in true SailGP style, the drama began long before the start gun.

Artemis wing trimmer Chris Draper required stitches to his face and mouth after a crash in training, while Spanish team Los Gallos were written out of the entire event with major damage to their F50 following a similar incident.

Iain Jensen, who transferred from 2025 champions Emirates Great Britain to the BONDS Flying Roos for the new season, was forced to sit out the opening day in Perth with a knee injury.

When racing did get going it took a little over a minute for the drama to amp up as New Zealand’s Black Foils and the Switzerland Sail Grand Prix team collided, ending both teams’ days before they’d even begun.

The damage to the Black Foils’ F50 was so severe that they will miss tomorrow’s racing, and now face a mammoth repair job to make the next Grand Prix in Auckland next month.

To add insult to injury they were penalised eight points by the umpires – not the start to 2026 Burling’s team were hoping for.

The SailGP Tech Team were hopeful of getting the Swiss F50 back in action for Sunday’s racing.

After a slow start in the first race, finishing ninth, Artemis unleashed a trio of results that included a second and two race wins to lay down an early marker to their rivals.

Outteridge’s team might be the 2026 rookies but they come with bags of SailGP experience – and it showed.

Smooth maneuvers combined with raw speed and smart tactical decisions that sent shockwaves through the fleet.

“There was a bit of hype around what we could do as a team, and a lot of internal pressure to come in and start well,” Outteridge said. “After the first race it wasn’t looking so good, so it was great that we bounced back and put together three really strong races to finish the day.”

The United States SailGP Team and DS Automobiles SailGP Team France also shot out of the blocks, displaying consistency and skill to finish the day second and third.

“We kept it rock solid all the way round the track,” Canfield said. “We sailed conservatively and maybe gave away a point or two but it was the first day of the season

A dream start for the BONDS Flying Roos saw them win the opening race but Tom Slingsby’s team then struggled to replicate that success, finishing the day fourth.

“It felt like everything was going to fall into place after that first race,” Slingsby said, “but unfortunately we got dragged back into the chaos over the next couple of races and had some tough results.”

The action resumes at 1pm local time – 5am UTC – on Sunday with three more races scheduled before the three-team winner-takes-all Final.

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Text and images courtesy of SailGP.com.

This calendar is for any non-Regatta events relating to Para Inclusive Sailing, such as Webinars, relevant Governance meetings, and IDPs. If you have a non-Regatta event you want to put on this calendar, please email para.worldsailing@sailing.org

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