Race 5 of the 2026 SailGP Sydney event produced a tense, tactical battle in featherlight winds on Sunday, with Emirates Great Britain taking the win and tightening the contest heading into the final two fleet races.
Coming into the day, Spain's Los Gallos held the regatta lead with 32 points, Diego Botín at the helm. Australia's BONDS Flying Roos occupied second place on 28 points, with Artemis with Nathan Outteridge third on 26. Red Bull Italy and Emirates GBR were equal on 23 points, and the United States sat close behind on 22.
Conditions on Sunday called for the 27.5 metre wing and T foils, with single-digit breeze making for a demanding race. Pure speed was never going to be the deciding factor. With the F50s unable to sustain foiling flight, teams were forced to manage momentum carefully and keep their boats moving in whatever puffs were available.
The start brought immediate drama, with Australia receiving a penalty near the line and Germany also falling foul of the umpires. Switzerland led around the first mark, though the fleet remained tightly compressed, leaving nothing settled.
Spain established themselves at the front early, but as the breeze nudged to the right, Emirates Great Britain showed patience and control. Dylan Fletcher's crew kept their manoeuvres to a minimum and let the conditions come to them. Spain strayed too wide and surrendered the lead, and though they tracked Emirates GBR closely throughout the remainder of the race, they could not generate the speed required to reclaim first place. The United States worked their way into third through consistent positioning.
Penalties hurt several crews across the fleet, Switzerland and Denmark among them, and in such marginal conditions any lost distance was effectively unrecoverable.
Emirates GBR crossed the line first to take 10 points, with Spain second on 9 and the United States third on 8. Red Bull Italy finished fourth, Mubadala Brazil fifth, and Australia sixth. ROCKWOOL Denmark, Artemis, Germany, Switzerland and NorthStar rounded out the order. The Black Foils and France again failed to register a score.
2026 SailGP Sydney Race 5 results
| POS | TEAM | DRIVER | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emirates GBR | Dylan Fletcher | 10 |
| 2 | Los Gallos | Diego Botín | 9 |
| 3 | U.S. SailGP Team | Taylor Canfield | 8 |
| 4 | Red Bull Italy | Phil Robertson | 7 |
| 5 | Mubadala Brazil | Martine Grael | 6 |
| 6 | BONDS Flying Roos | Tom Slingsby | 5 |
| 7 | ROCKWOOL Racing | Nicolai Sehested | 4 |
| 8 | Artemis | Nathan Outteridge | 3 |
| 9 | Germany | Erik Heil | 2 |
| 10 | Switzerland | Sébastien Schneiter | 1 |
| 11 | NorthStar | Giles Scott | 0 |
| 12 | Black Foils | Peter Burling | 0 |
| 12 | DS Team France | Quentin Delapierre | 0 |
The result shook up the leaderboard and sharpened the fight for the three places available in the event final. With just two fleet races remaining before the winner-takes-all showdown, the margins between teams are narrow and the pressure on Sydney Harbour is mounting.
Event points after Race 5
| POS | TEAM | DRIVER | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Gallos | Diego Botín | 41 |
| 2 | Emirates GBR | Dylan Fletcher | 33 |
| 3 | BONDS Flying Roos | Tom Slingsby | 33 |
| 4 | U.S. SailGP Team | Taylor Canfield | 30 |
| 5 | Artemis | Nathan Outteridge | 29 |
| 6 | Red Bull Italy | Phil Robertson | 30 |
| 7 | Mubadala Brazil | Martine Grael | 20 |
| 8 | Germany | Erik Heil | 18 |
| 9 | Switzerland | Sébastien Schneiter | 17 |
| 10 | ROCKWOOL Racing | Nicolai Sehested | 18 |
| 11 | NorthStar | Giles Scott | 6 |
| 12 | Black Foils | Peter Burling | 0 |
| 13 | DS Team France | Quentin Delapierre | 0 |
