The BONDS Flying Roos have retained their championship lead after narrowly missing out on what would have been a record sixth event win of the 2026 season in a hard-fought Final in Valencia.
Having built a valuable points buffer on day one, Tom Slingsby’s crew managed to claw their way into the four-boat Final on Super Sunday after another tense day of qualifying races.
The Australians took the lead early in the Final and held it for much of the race, maintaining a clear advantage over the USA, Denmark, and Italy as the crews battled through unpredictable light-air conditions.
But just when victory looked within reach, the race turned on a crucial final gate decision. The Australians chose to stick with the strategy that had worked throughout the day, only for the changing conditions to unravel their advantage – a call Slingsby later described as an “own goal”.
The U.S. SailGP Team exploited the opening on the final leg to take the lead and claim victory, despite a determined fightback from the BONDS Flying Roos who crossed the line in second. Italy finished third in their first-ever event Final with Denmark fourth.
BONDS Flying Roos driver Tom Slingsby said: “The Final was 95 per cent good for us. We did make an error at the bottom, the first upwind going for the foil. We got on the foils but we ended up fading into a right-hand pressure and the U.S. were able to overtake. We were able to get them back pretty quickly but it came down to that last bottom mark gate decision.
“In hindsight, I look at that as an own goal. We should have taken the left turn. We’re not a team that celebrates second and we don’t apologise for that. We want to win. We’re here to do one job and we’ve got to learn, and get better.”
Despite the narrow defeat, the Australians remain firmly in contention for a place in the winner-takes-all Grand Final in Abu Dhabi.
The result leaves the Australians with a record five event wins from 10 events this season, while they remain at the top of the championship leaderboard on 85 points – 17 clear of Los Gallos in second. With only three events remaining, there is all to play for as the race to Abu Dhabi intensifies.
The BONDS Flying Roos will now look to reset before the Rolex Geneva Sail Grand Prix gets underway in a fortnight, on 19-20 September.
#SailGP #BondsFlyingRoos #Valencia
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