Emirates GBR secures podium result in front of sell-out crowd in Portsmouth
by Emirates GBR SailGP Team 20 Jul 2025 21:49 BST
19-20 July 2025
New Zealand SailGP Team helmed by Peter Burling and Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team helmed by Dylan Fletcher on Race Day 2 of the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Portsmouth, UK © Felix Diemer for SailGP
The Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team has secured its fourth podium result of the 2025 Season in front of a sell-out crowd at its home event in Portsmouth. The British crew came away with a second-place finish at the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix, after being pipped to the post by New Zealand.
Emirates GBR faced the Kiwis and Switzerland in Sunday’s winner-takes-all final in front of the 10,000 fans that filled the grandstand on Southsea Common. Although they didn’t come away with the win, the Brits put on a stellar performance across the event, securing top three finishes in all four races on Saturday - with a scoresheet of 1-2-3-2. This meant they entered day two on Sunday at the top of the leaderboard and the crew managed to maintain that place heading into the three-boat final, but unfortunately the Kiwis denied Emirates GBR the glory of a home-event win.
Emirates GBR Driver Dylan Fletcher said: “What an event, the home crowd was amazing and we very nearly got it done. We sailed well and had a solid weekend but there’s lots of jeopardy in SailGP. We gave it our everything and thought we might have had a nibble at the Kiwis at that top gate but unfortunately it just wasn’t enough. The team has really gelled and worked well together and it feels like we’re back to our usual level after a couple of off events. We know that’s how we can sail and if we sail like that for the rest of the season we will be where we want to be for that Grand Final in Abu Dhabi.”
With more than 20,000 fans attending the event across the weekend, Emirates GBR Strategist Hannah Mills said the team was “gutted” to not get the win in front of the home crowd.
“We are obviously gutted not to win as we felt like we were sailing really well this weekend but we certainly gave it our all,” she said.
“We were sailing really fast, the boat handling was good and our communication was solid – we are just so proud at how we’ve bounced back after a couple of tough events, and to do it here in front of a home crowd who were so loud was just amazing, we’re all just buzzing.”
Race day two saw the return of France to the start line, after they were ruled out of Saturday’s racing when their F50’s wing collapses pre-racing. After an all-night effort from SailGP’s Tech Team, the French were able to race with a fully rebuilt 24 metre wing, comprising new and salvaged parts from the team’s existing wing.
Across the Portsmouth race weekend, Emirates GBR had a string of stars join the crew on-board the F50 race boat, including TV personality and Heart FM presenter Mark Wright, former footballer and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp and music sensation Tom Grennan, who performed to the packed-out crowd on Saturday. Legendary DJ Pete Tong put on an Apres-Sail party for Sunday’s crowd, while SailGP partnered with La Folie Deuce for their Premium Lounge over the weekend. Those that missed out on experiencing the event in person can look forward to the 2026 event in Portsmouth, which was confirmed by SailGP earlier this month.
Those that missed out on experiencing the event in person can look forward to the 2026 event in Portsmouth, which was confirmed by SailGP earlier this month. SailGP fans won’t have to wait that long for more action though, as the world’s most exciting racing on water returns next month for the Germany Sail Grand Prix in Sassnitz on 16-17 August.