Australia’s Flying Roos and Spain’s Los Gallos ended the opening day of the Bermuda Sail Grand Prix tied at the top of the leaderboard on 32 points. Fast foiling, tight crossings and heavy gusts delivered dramatic racing on Bermuda’s Great Sound during the fifth event of the 2026 Rolex SailGP Championship.
The U.S. SailGP Team sits third overall on 28 points after a strong and consistent opening day. Taylor Canfield’s American crew claimed the first race with a lights-to-flag victory in front of a sold-out crowd. “What an epic day we had here,” Canfield said. “There was one mark we were going past where there were boats on all different sides of us going different directions, and we had to hope everything worked itself out,” he added.
Australia struck back in race two as Tom Slingsby’s Flying Roos controlled the fleet from the opening leg to secure victory.
SailGP crews fly through a fast opening day in Bermuda. Photo: SailGP
Spain’s Los Gallos continued their steady form throughout the day and won race three after one of the most congested starts of the season. The Spanish crew, skippered by Diego Botín, stayed clear of the fleet traffic to edge Australia into second place.
The final fleet race saw Slingsby’s crew deliver another win after overtaking Red Bull Italy on the right side of the course.
Three-time SailGP champion Slingsby described the conditions as close to perfect. “The racing was incredibly close, and conditions on the Great Sound were unreal,” he said. “If you were writing down your ideal racing conditions, it would look a lot like today.”
Botín said the conditions pushed crews to the limit despite the flat water. “At the same time, we were a bit overpowered, with the wind it was super hard to sail these boats,” he said.
DS Automobiles Team France suffered a setback after stand-in wing trimmer Glenn Ashby was injured during race two. The French crew later returned to racing after reserve sailor Tom Needham stepped into the wing trimmer role under emergency registration.
Sweden’s Artemis SailGP Team did not compete after discovering a technical issue during pre-race practice.
Racing resumes on Sunday with the Bermuda event finely balanced heading into the final day.
