France hit 107.63km/h, a new SailGP speed record, before Los Gallos Spain steal Group A's final race in Sassnitz

DS Team France set a new SailGP speed record of 107.63km/h at the first mark of Group A's final race on Saturday in Sassnitz, breaking the mark of 103.93km/h that Rockwool Denmark had held since setting it at this same venue in 2025. It wasn't enough to win them the race. Los Gallos Spain recovered from an early penalty to retake the lead and hold on for victory, their first result of the day after finishing seventh and fourth in the two races before it.

The start was tight, then spread out. New Zealand's Black Foils were late off the line but found space to work with. Switzerland looked sharp early, then dropped off the foils inside the start box and lost their speed. Spain and France both got away cleanly, with Denmark tucked in close behind.

Mark one was where the race turned into something else entirely. Speeds climbed past 100km/h across the fleet as boats came into the bear-away, then kept climbing: 105, 106, and then France's 107.63. Sailing that high and fast pushes a foil to its limit, air can get pulled down its sides, and the whole thing can let go without warning. That's what happened to both Rockwool Denmark and Los Gallos Spain in the same stretch of water. Denmark, who'd been second at the mark, lost control and came off the foils entirely, dropping out of contention. Spain went the same way and sailed well outside the course boundary, picking up a penalty on top of the time they'd already lost.

From there Spain rebuilt the whole race. They found stronger pressure on the left side of the course, worked back through the fleet, and were leading again by the third mark. By the approach to the final gate they'd stretched that out to nearly 200 metres over France, who had led for most of the middle of the race before a tactical call on the run home cost them ground they couldn't get back. Spain held their lead through the finish for the win. France settled for second, having already won the previous race of the day.

New Zealand worked into third after choosing not to chase the strongest breeze on one leg, instead protecting their angle for the leg after, a call that paid off late. Switzerland recovered from their slow start to take fourth, edging out Italy by under two seconds after Italy were pushed wide at a mark and lost a place they'd been holding. Denmark, who never got their speed back after coming off the foils at the first mark, finished sixth. Mubadala Brazil, driven by Martine Grael, finished last, a second bottom-of-the-fleet result to close out the day.

Race 3, Group A result

*All seven finish times confirmed by official timing. Spain penalised for a boundary infringement after coming off the foils at Mark 1.*

Three races, three different winners

Saturday's three Group A races produced three different winners: New Zealand in the first, France in the second, Spain in the third. Diego Botin, who drove Los Gallos to the win, put the turnaround down to a reset after two rough outings earlier in the day. "We struggled a bit in the first two races, getting into some trouble and maybe not saving the best potential, but I think we did a good reset and a good race for the last one," he said afterwards.

Group A after three races

New Zealand lead Group A on 12 points from three races, with France close behind on 11. Los Gallos Spain's win lifts them to third on 7, level on points with Switzerland in fourth, Spain ahead on the tiebreak. Italy and Denmark are tied on 4, and Brazil are yet to score. New Zealand and France are the two teams through to Sunday's four-boat final, with Black Foils NZ needing just to keep their bow in front of France to top the group heading into the decider.