2026 SailGP Season European leg recap: Key results and storylines

Everything that happened during four European events this summer in SailGP

Published 10/7/2026

The 2026 Rolex SailGP Championship is approaching its dramatic conclusion following the end of the European leg of the season.

That means there are just two more opportunities for the 13 international teams to book their place in the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix 2026 Season Grand Final presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council (November 28-29).

Two teams have already punched their tickets for the winner-takes-all Grand Final: the BONDS Flying Roos and Los Gallos – both previous season winners. But how did the European events unfold?

Ahead of the final stops of the season Dubai (November 21-22) and Abu Dhabi, we recap a dramatic summer on the continent…

Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix: July 25-26

Initially introduced in Halifax, fleet racing was cemented in Portsmouth with the U.S. SailGP Team placed in Group B alongside Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, France and Great Britain.

The overnight leaders were the Black Foils and Artemis, with the U.S. SailGP Team 2nd in Group B thanks to 1-3-3 finishes.

There was drama aplenty on Britain’s south coast with NorthStar resisting Los Gallos at the last moment in the opening race, before the Crew built a 300m lead in Race B1 to hold off the Swedes’ challenge.

The Canadians’ luck ran out in their second outing, parking up at the final rounding to hand Los Gallos victory. The Swedes also got revenge in B2, with the Crew in P2 to continue a strong showing.

On Super Sunday, Spain continued a magnificent summer for Spanish sport. Hot on La Roja’s soccer World Cup win in the U.S., they made it back-to-back event wins.

Artemis were runners-up for the third time in an impressive debut season, while the U.S. SailGP strengthened its grip on P4 overall with a P6 finish.

ROCKWOOL Germany Sail Grand Prix | Sassnitz: August 22-23

Sassnitz once again delivered big winds and record-breaking speeds with the BONDS Flying Roos ending Los Gallos’ two-event win streak.

Tom Slingsby’s crew laid down a marker on Day 1 with back-to-back wins to take control of Group B overnight. The U.S. SailGP Team looked set for a top-three finish to Race B1 but fell off the foils at the last moment, dropping to P4. That misfortune was a sign of things to come on a tough weekend on the Baltic Sea.

Day 1 concluded with a win for hosts Germany SailGP Team presented by Deutsche Bank and, for the second year running, a new speed record set in Sassnitz. This time it belonged to DS Team France who hit 107km/h to eclipse ROCKWOOL Racing.

Germany claimed another win on Day 2 but could not force their way into the four-boat Final along with Australia, NorthStar, Los Gallos and Black Foils. Elsewhere, Harry Melges IV made his U.S. SailGP Team debut at strategist in the day’s final fleet race.

The Roos took home maximum points after their Final rivals fell off the foils late on, all but clinching their Grand Final ticket.

Spain Sail Grand Prix | Valencia: September 5-6

For the second time this season, the U.S. SailGP Team were event winners - in doing so making history as the first iteration of the Crew to rack up multiple event wins in a single season.

Canfield and co. left it until the final mark where a masterful maneuver edged out Slingsby and the BONDS Flying Roos in a chess match of a Final in light-air conditions.

With little wind on Spain’s east coast, racing on Day 2 was reduced to a single fleet race which the U.S. SailGP Team simply had to win to progress – not that they knew it at the time.

Perhaps that was a help rather than a hindrance as the U.S. SailGP Team’s F50 was first to get up and foil on the reach to Mark 1, before pulling away to clinch five decisive points.

Overnight, the U.S. SailGP Team had been nicely positioned after going 2-3-3 on Day 1 but still found themselves behind hosts Los Gallos (1-1-2) in a fiercely competitive Group B.

Still, it was the Roos that looked set to take the win in Valencia but Canfield’s strategic decision to sail further and make two maneuvers to find more wind paid off, laying the Crew up for a nerveless finish that clinched the event.

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Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix | Geneva: September 19-20

Wind was in short supply on Lac Léman for the second year running, which meant tight, tactical racing in the world’s Peace Capital.

It had been anything but a peaceful lead-up to the event for the U.S. SailGP Team, which lost regular driver Canfield and reserve Melges IV to injury in a matter of days prior to the event.

In stepped two-time Olympic gold medalist Martine Grael at short notice to take the wheel. Already the first - and only - female driver in league history, Grael teamed up with Anna Weis to become the first pair of women on an F50 in six seasons of SailGP.

Despite some promising moments, the hastily arranged line-up could not pull off a miracle at such short notice and it was Los Gallos that triumphed in Geneva to seal their place in November’s Grand Final.

For the second event in a row, Slingsby and the Roos had led throughout the truncated Final, only to be usurped at the final mark by Diego Botín’s crew.

All of which means that with two events to go, there is a three-way fight between debutants Artemis, the U.S. SailGP Team and holders Emirates GBR to join the Aussies and Spanish in the Grand Final.

Racing resumes on November 21-22 with the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix.

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