Bonds Flying Roos Stretch Championship Lead With Fifth Win of 2026 Season

by SailGP 23 Aug 17:15 BST 22-23 August 2026

Tom Slingsby's Bonds Flying Roos ended a two-event wait for a Final with a flawless win on the Baltic Sea, as NorthStar took second and Los Gallos third. Australia moved 14 points clear at the top of the 2026 Rolex SailGP Championship standings.

Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand's made their first final appearance of 2026, finishing fourth after a frustrating final-whistle penalty to driver Peter Burling. Despite missing out on the final, Sweden's Artemis Racing moved into the top three overall after a standout weekend in Sassnitz.

Championship Sunday looked very different from the top-speeds of day 1 - with heavy rain, and gusty, patchy breezes of 40 km/h. No one read the conditions better than the home team, who fought their way through the fleet to steal a commanding win in race 4 - finishing 600 meters ahead of NorthStar in second.

Driver for the Germany SailGP Team presented by Deutsche Bank, Erik Kosegarten-Heil said, "It was great. We had, I would say, not a very lucky start, but we saw the breeze coming, and we were lucky that everyone on the other side was completely falling off the foils. So we had a kind of easy race, just staying on the foils, which was a nice moment for us and for the home crowd.

The Kiwis sailed away with the race 4 win in Group A, holding off Spain and France to claim their second win in four races and secure their spot in the event final.

With the top four teams in Group B separated by just a single point heading into their final fleet race, a three-way cross between Australia, Canada and Sweden caused a major reshuffling on leg three. NorthStar emerged with the lead as the Bonds Flyings dropped to second and Artemis fared the worst, eventually crossing the line in fifth - ending their final run.

"It was a bit of a frustrating day for us," said driver Nathan Outteridge. "We got ourselves into some pretty good spots around the front, but then managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in that last race. I thought we were in really good shape, and we were still in the hunt for the Final at that point, but we went for a split on the upwind, we both went right, and we lost a few spots."

"It was fantastic racing in that group today. If every weekend could be like that, racing in conditions like that where every race is super tight, it would be awesome."

In Group B's final qualifying fleet race, Los Gallos needed to come out firing and Diego Botín delivered, nailing the start to gain the lead at mark one. A dramatic nosedive on leg 5 spelled the end of the weekend for DS Automobiles Team France as Spain ran away with the win ahead of ROCKWOOL Denmark in second and Red Bull Italy in third.

With a formidable line-up of four Olympic champion drivers, the event final was defined by dropping breeze and the deteriorating conditions. The Bonds Flying Roos made the start count, rounding mark one clear of NorthStar and New Zealand, as Los Gallos rounded last.

Diego Botín's crew again worked their way forward, passing the Black Foils at gate four to take second, but the Australians were out of reach. Tom Slingsby's team had built a commanding lead by leg five and held it to the line for a fifth event win of the 2026 Season.

"We definitely had to work for it, but that Final just came out firing," said Slingsby. "There was massive déjà vu heading into it when the wind started shutting down - in race one we went from first to last, and then in the Final the wind started shutting down again. But we learned a lot of lessons in that first race about how to get the boat boiling and find the breeze quickly, and we managed to stay boiling all the way around the track."

For the rest the finish was decided at a walking pace: as the Black Foils, NorthStar and Los Gallos - all off their foils - closed on the line together. New Zealand were issued a deciding penalty for failing to keep clear of Los Gallos. NorthStar drifted through to take second, as Spain completed the podium in third.

New Zealand finished fourth - missing out on their first bonus prize winnings of the season so far. Driver Peter Burling reflected, "When your worst race of the event is the last one, it definitely hurts."

"I think the team took another step up this weekend," continued Burling. "We performed really well in the qualifying series and got ourselves into the Final. In that last race we were down in the rain with quite a few issues on board. I thought we did a really good job of the first part of it, keeping the boat on the foils and making ourselves opportunities to get back to the front of that group, but we couldn't quite make it. That's the last two events now where we've gone out on a negative note, which is always frustrating, but we know that if we keep pushing hard and working through the processes, we'll be right in it."

It was a weekend to forget for reigning champions Emirates GBR, who finished ninth overall. Dylan Fletcher's team are level on points with the U.S. SailGP Team, now in fourth in the Rolex SailGP Championship - and 30 points adrift of the Bonds Flying Roos.

With nine events down and just four remaining, the question is clear: can anyone catch the Bonds Flying Roos? "Momentum's a hell of a thing," said Slingsby. "You go up and down throughout the year, and once you get on a down slope you wonder where it's going to stop. We're stoked to be going into three events back to back to back with a lot of momentum."

SailGP returns next month, with the inaugural Spain Sail Grand Prix | Valencia, September 5-6, 2026. Limited tickets remain - find out more at SailGP.com/Valencia.