Northstar Canada holds off Spanish charge to win Group A opener in Portsmouth

Giles Scott's Northstar Canada team have opened the European leg of SailGP's 2026 season with victory in the first Group A race off Portsmouth, surviving a last-gasp charge from Diego Botin's Los Gallos Spain to win by just 1.8 seconds.

Canada led from the front for the entire race, but they were made to work for it. Spain clawed back more than nine seconds over the closing two legs and were still gaining fast as the Canadians crossed the line in front of 20,000 fans on the Portsmouth waterfront.

A tight, physical start

Group A had been tagged the "group of death" before racing even began, with Australia, New Zealand and Spain, three of the fleet's biggest hitters, drawn into the same heat. Northstar Canada got the cleanest getaway of the seven boats. Rockwell Racing Denmark were called over early at the start line.

Australia's race went wrong early. Caught in the middle of the pack and pushing hard for clear air, the Australians got too high and dropped off the foils, tumbling from the front of the fleet to the back of it inside the opening legs.

Canada extends, Spain finds the gears

By the fourth mark, Canada already led the fleet by close to five seconds on the water, with Red Bull Italy in second, New Zealand's Black Foils third, Spain fourth, Australia fifth, Brazil sixth and Denmark seventh.

Then Spain got going. Their upwind roundings were the best in the fleet all day, and they used them to slice past both Italy and the Black Foils, moving into second by the fifth mark and cutting Canada's lead to under three seconds by the sixth. New Zealand's gain over that same stretch came largely from working the left-hand side of the track, where the central course obstacle created a wind shadow that rewarded the boats prepared to sail into it.

Brazil's race unravelled at the bottom gate, where a hesitant, indecisive turn cost them clear water and dropped them from the leading group to the back of the fleet.

Denmark's day got worse from there. They were penalised for sailing outside the course boundary and served the penalty late in the race, then had a protest lodged against them on the final leg. That protest was thrown out, no penalty.

Down to the wire

Canada crossed the line first in 8 minutes 44.156 seconds, but Spain were still finding time on the run to the finish and came home just 1.8 seconds back, easily the closest margin of the day. Red Bull Italy held on for third, 9.5 seconds behind the winners, with the Black Foils fourth on 19.5 seconds back.

Australia recovered from their early error to salvage fifth, 31.6 seconds off the pace, ahead of Mubadala Brazil in sixth and Rockwell Racing Denmark seventh, the Danes' race undone by the early penalty.

Race 1 result, Group A

Group B, featuring Emirates GBR, the US Team, Artemis, France, Germany's Deutsche Bank and Explorer Switzerland, are next on the water, with Group A's second race of the day to follow shortly after.