ROCKWOOL Racing set pace on first day at SailGP C'ship as top seeds falter

ROCKWOOL Racing, Mubadala Brazil and Red Bull Italy top the event leaderboard after the first four fleet races of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix 2025 Season Grand Final, presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council.

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It was a disappointing day for the championship's front-runners - but not enough to disrupt the odds of Sunday's Grand Final.

Emirates GBR, Australia and Spain end the day on the Arabian Gulf in 10th, 11th and 12th place, respectively. Second on the overall season standings, Peter Burling’s Black Foils fared slightly better, in eighth.

All teams adopted the fleet's new 27.5 meter wingsail for the first time, alongside light airfoils and rudders to make the most of the 7-10 km/h breeze.

Even the most experienced crews struggled in crowded conditions on one of the tightest racetracks on the calendar. Tom Slingsby’s BONDS Flying Roos and Diego Botin’s Los Gallos both received two penalties each for on-course side (early start). A total of 27 penalties were handed down across the day by SailGP umpires, including a costly penalty to the Swiss (8 points) for causing damage to the New Zealand F50 in fleet race four.

Slingsby said, “We received two early start penalties today - it’s frustrating but I saw a lot of teams getting penalties so maybe everyone is having similar issues.”