REPORT: Los Gallos Dominate Day 1 In Sydney; Two P3s For U.S. SailGP Team
Season 4 Champions Los Gallos impress on Day 1 of the KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix with U.S. SailGP Team going 6-3-10-3
Published 02/28/2026
Los Gallos lead the KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix at halfway, with the U.S. SailGP Team just four points short of a Final berth ahead of Super Sunday.
Tricky conditions in Sydney Harbour – described as unlike anything he’d seen before by BONDS Flying Roos’ driver Tom Slingsby – set up a challenging day of twilight racing in the Emerald City.
Winds of 15 km/hr gusting 25 km/hr made it tough for the 11-strong fleet to get foiling at times, even with teams starting the day five up and ending with four-person crews. The light-air T-foils and rudders were the package of choice, replete with the 24m all-purpose wing.Â
Australia delighted the home crowd in Race 1 by taking home the win in style. They had to work hard for it, though, with ROCKWOOL Denmark leading at Mark One after rolling over the top of Emirates GBR. Meanwhile, Artemis were hit with a pre-start penalty for sailing outside the boundary.
The lead changed hands several times but it was the Roos who clinched the win in commanding fashion, with no one near them as they crossed the finish line. The U.S. SailGP Team fought hard from a slower start to climb into P6 and, at one stage, as high as P4.Â
In Race 2, Switzerland nailed the start at the top of the line, followed by Los Gallos, Mubadala Brazil and Red Bull Italy. However, there was a big gap back to the U.S. SailGP Team who were next to turn round M1 in P4. The fleet then split into two with the top six well clear of the rest.
The U.S. SailGP Team F50 flies by the Sydney Opera House ahead of the KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix
At the top, Seb Schneiter’s team looked to be in control until the wind dropped and they fell off the foils in Leg 4. Los Gallos took over and secured the win from there. The U.S. SailGP Team looked to have nicked P2 for a moment, diving inside the Swiss at the final mark, but had to settle for P3 and a big eight points.
Race 3 began with a bang in the start box. There were on-course side (OCS) penalties for Australia, Germany SailGP Team presented by Deutsche Bank and Denmark who all had to go behind. However, the impact of that was the U.S. SailGP Team ran out of room and had to take evasive action to avoid hitting the Danes or Swedes.
The beneficiaries were Los Gallos and NorthStar Canada, who left the carnage behind them to motor away to M1. Having won Race 2, BotÃn and the Spanish quickly took control and - save for a brief exchange with the Swedes - never looked back to secure consecutive wins. Sweden held off Italy at the final mark rounding to clinch P2 with Phil Robertson’s crew (4-4-3) continuing a strong weekend.Â
A blanket start to the day’s final race saw several teams cross the line together but it was Emirates GBR that took control at M1, closely followed by NorthStar Canada and Artemis. Further back, the Spanish were penalized for a foul on the U.S. SailGP Team.
A view of the course ahead of the 2026 KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix
At Gate 2, GBR and Canada went left with Sweden favoring the right-hand gate. The battle at the front of the pack did not let up with the Brits, Denmark and Sweden all taking turns before the BONDS Flying Roos assumed control.
The U.S. SailGP Team took full advantage as several teams struggled to find wind on the course, jumping from P8 to P3 to follow Australia and Germany home and add another eight points to their tally.Â
Los Gallos end the day top of the event standings, with hosts the BONDS Flying Roos just behind in second and Artemis nicely positioned in third.Â
Racing resumes at 17:30 AEDT on Sunday, March 1 with the top three teams contesting a winner-takes-all Final.
CLICK HERE FOR DAY 2 TIMINGS
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