NEW YORK | JUNE 7, 2025 – Diego Botin’s Spain SailGP Team leads the fleet after a stormy and tactical opening day of the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix. France, ROCKWOOL Denmark and New Zealand are all hot on his heels for all-important leaderboard points heading into Championship Sunday.
As the starting bell rang on the Hudson, SailGP’s fleet of international athletes took on multiple roles, with just three crew on board to reduce weight in light breeze. Straight across the startline, Diego Botin led the fleet to mark one, storming ahead to cross the finish line first.
Coming off the water, Botin remarked: “It was so hectic out there! The first race suddenly we were up – we didn’t know where we were within the fleet but we got a good start and then we managed to give it our all. Managing priorities on the boat in these kinds of conditions and in different formations onboard – that’s the toughest thing. You cannot stop fighting until the end.”
Race two and a four-person crew meant an extra set of eyes and hands on board for teams navigating the flushing-out tides of the Hudson. Tom Slingsby – fresh off the hype of announcing a new Title Partner and co-owners, actors Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds – tore through the startline and kept it up, sweeping across the line in first. Martine Grael’s Mubadala Brazil was close behind in second, with a consistent effort from Quentin Delapierre’s France taking Les Bleus into third.
Tom Slingsby, who sits sixth after the first three fleet races of the weekend, said: “We sort of had an up and down day. The race win was great – the boat was going really well and then the last race, unfortunately, we had a few issues and had a bad race. The forecast tomorrow looks great – we’re going to focus on that.”
The third and final fleet race started with a drag race over the startline between Peter Burling’s Black Foils and Nicolai Sehested’s ROCKWOOL Denmark, as the Kiwis aimed to bounce back to the top after an 11th place finish in fleet race two. And boy, did it pay off as for the first time in SailGP racing history the New Zealand crew lapped the entire fleet, going three times the speed round the outside of the course and proving that once foiling, they were out of there…and across the finish.
Racing at home for the final time this season, the U.S. SailGP Team was buoyed by full grandstands of American racing fans. Driver Taylor Canfield said, “We could hear them cheering for us as we came by, and that’s super cool. I’m so proud to represent our country and we’re lucky to have this third event (Stateside).”
Prior to the racing beginning on Saturday, SailGP Chief Hype Officer, Grammy-Award winning music mogul DJ Khaled, hyped up the crowd. More than 10,000 fans are expected across the weekend, watching from the Governors Island Race Stadium and official spectator fleet.
The most exciting racing on water returns tomorrow (Sunday June 8) with a brighter forecast and shifty winds predicted, getting underway at 3:30 p.m. ET. Three fleet races will be followed by a winner-takes-all final. Limited tickets remain at SailGP.com/NY.
EVENT STANDINGS AFTER DAY 1 – MUBADALA NEW YORK SAILGP
- Spain (25 points)
- ROCKWOOL Denmark (20 points)
- France (20 points)
- New Zealand (19 points)
- Mubadala Brazil (17 points)
- BONDS Flying Roos (17 points)
- GER Deutsche Bank (11 points)
- Switzerland (10 points)
- Northstar Canada (10 points)
- Emirates Great Britain (7 points)
- Unites States (6 points)
- Red Bull Italy (3 points)
MEDIA HUB | The SailGP Media Hub is a dedicated space for media to cover the Rolex SailGP Championship. Access the SailGP Media Hub via mediahub.sailgp.com.
ABOUT SAILGP | The most exciting racing on water, the Rolex SailGP Championship sees national teams battling it out in identical high-tech, high-speed 50-foot foiling catamarans at iconic venues around the world. Racing faster than the wind at speeds approaching 100 km/h (60 mph), SailGP is driven by the sport’s top athletes, with national pride, personal glory, and a total prize money of US$12 million at stake. Powered by nature – wind, sea and sun – driven by purpose, SailGP races for a better future. Visit SailGP.com to find out more.
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