5 Things You Missed At The Rio Sail Grand Prix
Recap the first-ever ENEL Rio Sail Grand Prix with everything you might have missed
Published 04/14/2026
The first Rio Sail Grand Prix more than lived up to its billing as Brazil kicked off the South American leg of the 2026 Rolex SailGP Season.
The BONDS Flying Roos took the win in Guanabara Bay, beating Los Gallos and first-time finalists Artemis in the winner-takes-all Final to clinch their second event win of the season.
For the U.S. SailGP Team, a P4 on the event was a solid way to build on victory in Sydney, strengthening the Crew’s grip on 3rd in the Championship standings.
Here’s everything you missed…
1. Rare British blip
Champions at the end of the 2025 Season, Dylan Fletcher and Emirates GBR carried that form into the new campaign, placing P1, P2 and P2.
However, the reigning Champions struggled to get off the line all weekend in Rio and went 11-6-11-12-12-10-10 to finish in P12 overall. That meant for the first time since the Geneva Sail Grand Prix in September, the British crew missed Sunday’s Final.
A remarkable run is over but the Brits remain in P2 in the Championship. Do not sleep on them!
2. Artemis makes first Final
Artemis, driven by Nathan Outteridge, reached their first event final in Rio
While one traditional powerhouse endured a forgettable weekend, the new kids on the block took their chance to shine.
Nathan Outteridge is no stranger to SailGP success but this was his first Final as driver of the newly-formed Artemis team representing Sweden.
The Swedes went 1-2-6-6 on Day 1 to propel themselves into contention overnight, adding finishes of P3, P4, P3 on Super Sunday. In the Final, Outteridge’s crew came home third, behind the Roos and Los Gallos.
3. Roos pull off perfect Sunday
The BONDS Flying Roos won their second event of the season having clinched Auckland in February
It doesn’t get any better than this. On Sunday, the BONDS Flying Roos pulled off a perfect score, going 1-1-1-1 by clinching all three fleet races to set up a shot at glory.
Tom Slingsby and co. duly delivered in the shadow of Sugarload Mountain and Christ the Redeemer, picking up their second event win of the season.
Speaking to The Athletic, Slingsby said: “Winning four races in a day, I don’t think it’s been done before. We’ve won three races in a day back in season one when there was only six boats or something like that.
“But to do it in a 12-boat fleet on such a challenging day, if you asked me today, ‘Were you going to get four firsts?’ I would say not a chance, I think we would have taken four fifth places today. But the team just gelled.”
4. Starting strategy pays off for U.S. SailGP Team
In tricky light-air conditions across the weekend, no one found greater consistency in the start box than Taylor Canfield and the U.S. SailGP Team.
The Crew’s average position at Mark 1 on Day 1 was 3 and on Day 2 was 5.3 – indicative of good timing and positioning in a crowded start box.
Speaking afterwards, Canfield said: “I think we did a pretty good job in our starting all weekend, and that’s a positive. We’ll go back and keep building. P4 on the weekend is solid.”
5. France hit with DSQ
And just to prove the difficulty of starting in Guanabara Bay, with wind coming over and around Sugarloaf Mountain, DS Automobiles France got in a spot of bother in the day’s final race.
Quentin Delapierre’s crew were hit with a black flag for trying to force their way into a non-existent gap, ending their race - and the weekend - prematurely.
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