SailGP: Fremantle turns on a sizzler as Sweden scores back to back wins on debut.
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 17 Jan 07:45 GMT
Australia and Denmark - Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix - Event 1, Day 1, Season 6 - January 17, 2026 © Samo Vidic/SailGP
Fremantle turned out one of the most action-packed days of SailGP, now in its sixth season.
Renowned for the action seen forty years ago in the 1986/87 America's Cup, Fremantle took the old and a new generation of sailing fans, right back to where the America's Cup left off.
The Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix, presented by KPMG was a complete contrast to the last event, the Season 5 Grand Final sailed in the fickle breezes of Abu Dhabi, UAE - underlining the adage that sailing events are best held where there is an over-supply of wind.
The Fremantle Doctor once again called on sailing fans - turning on a breeze of 12-15kts and flattish seas - which was tonic the wingsailed F50 foiling catamarans need to foil throughout the race at speeds of up to 43kts.
The call to sail with the all-purpose 24metre wingsail was a good one, despite the crews having trained since Tuesday with the smallest 18metre high wingsail.
Freo also turned the SailGP formbook inside out.
At the end of the first day of racing, Sweden's Artemis Racing topped the overnight leader board on debut. An achievement never seen before in SailGP racing.
“It was awesome to come back and race," Outteridge said after the race. "I really enjoyed watching last season from the cruising boat, but I’ve been itching to get back into it over the last few months.”
He said the two race wins were not expected. "There’s been a bit of hype around what we can do as a team and some internal pressure to come in and perform. After the first race, it wasn’t looking great, so it was nice to bounce back and have three really good races to finish the day.
"For me, it’s such a pleasure to sail with the group we’ve put together — sailing with Chris and Andy, Brad, Julius and Julia. We’re gelling really well so far, and it’s only day one together as a team.”
“The first race was hectic," Outteridge explained. "We didn’t have the best start — I made an error in the pre-start and picked up a boundary penalty — and then our second gybe was just chaos. I was hearing from other sailors that there was debris everywhere in the water, so I think we did well in that engagement.
"It took us a while to get settled, but you can tell people are pushing really hard. The conditions were ideal in the sweet spots to really send the boats, and it was fun to do that.”
Outteridge and his team were joined at the top of the points table by the US SailGP team - easily the best performance by the team to date. However despite being the most consistent team of the 12 that competed, the USA was unable to score its first race win.
“Given how hectic the day was for everyone, we’re really pleased with how we sailed," said Taylor Canfield, skipper of the United States SailGP Team.
"We kept it rock solid all the way around the track and just chipped away at it. There were a few ups and downs in the races, but we always seemed to end on a high.
"We felt really good all week in training leading into this and made some good progress in how we’re sailing the boat in these tough conditions.
"It was tough throwing the 24-metre wing on after training with the 18metre wingsail all week, but we seem to have a good boat and things went well.”
“Yeah, absolutely — it’s nice to have the full team back, and we’re proud to have an all-American team. We’ve made some strides and feel really locked in as a group, and I think the progress we made even just this week has shown in the confidence across the boat. There’s a lot more to come after a promising day like today.”
“The racecourse was crazy busy, although it got a little less hectic later in the day with fewer boats. I know how it feels to be involved in incidents, and I’m glad everyone on the other boats is okay. We sailed conservatively at times, and that probably cost us a few points, but on the first day of the season we were in decent positions in every race. We were happy to take a step back when needed and stay out of harm’s way.”
The rebadged French team, now DS Automobiles SailGP Team France rewarded their new naming sponsor, with a win and two second places from the four races sailed.
“Very happy with how we sailed," said skipper Quentin Delapierre.
Leigh McMillan (GBR), the new recruit from the Brazil SailGP team worked out well. “I’m just enjoying so much sailing with Leigh – he’s super chill, always happy to have a laugh."
"We're just enjoying the sailing and will re-focus on tomorrow with this new team," he added.
The top three on 31pts apiece have worked their way out to a seven point advantage over the peloton, with the Bonds Flying Roos (Australia) and the Season 5 champions, Emirates GBR locked on 24pts, with Brazil another 6pts further back in 6th overall.
Racing continues on Sunday, before a sell-out venue.