The mistral arrived before the sailors did. France's infamous north wind had already funnelled into Saint-Tropez, driving gusts past 40 km/h before a single race had been sailed. The forecast was brutal, and with teams debuting new high-speed rudders and foil-protection software, everyone understood the stakes. Racing would test technology as much as nerve.
Away from the racing itself, SailGP's future was also taking shape. Sir Russell Coutts confirmed the league's 2026 expansion, revealing that Team 13 had been sold and would be announced shortly, with Team 14 set to join in 2027 alongside a new F50 training platform. On the water, two returning boats added their own subplot: Mubadala Brazil and the USA were both back after major rebuilds, repaired just in time to face some of the most punishing conditions the Bay of Saint-Tropez could produce.
For the French team, skippered by Quentin Delapierre, the event carried the added weight of a home crowd. Emirates GBR arrived with their own motivation, looking to repeat the victory they had claimed at this same venue in 2023, this time with Dylan Fletcher at the helm. The scene was set, and the mistral had no intention of making anything easy.
*Fleet Race 1: BONDS Flying Roos strike first*
Tom Slingsby's BONDS Flying Roos served notice from the very first start, hitting the line cleanly and driving clear of a competitive fleet with the composure of defending champions. Emirates GBR tracked them throughout, shadowing every move without ever finding a way past, while Los Gallos Spain rounded out the top three with enough pace to signal they would be a genuine factor across the day.
Behind them, the event's chaos began to reveal itself. France mistimed the start and left Delapierre with ground to recover from the outset. Brazil and the USA, still finding their feet after their respective rebuilds, focused simply on staying upright in the gusts. Switzerland and Red Bull Italy struggled most severely, both finishing outside the points entirely.
Australia had their platform, but the strengthening mistral would ensure that reproducing it would be anything but straightforward.
*Fleet Race 2: Burling bites back*
New Zealand's Black Foils dominated race two from the gun, reading the shifts with enough precision to build a lead and then defend it comfortably. The bigger surprise came behind them: NorthStar Canada found the breeze in all the right moments and held second from start to finish, one of the more unexpected results of the afternoon. Los Gallos Spain made it back-to-back thirds, reinforcing the impression that they had real pace across a range of conditions.
The story in this race, though, was the collapse of the BONDS Flying Roos. Winners in race one, they fell all the way to tenth, caught out by rapidly shifting pressure and caught up in mid-fleet traffic. Emirates GBR salvaged fourth to stay in touch overall, and Red Bull Italy recovered a useful sixth to partially offset their earlier difficulties.
The pattern that would define the entire afternoon had announced itself: the only constant was change.
*Fleet Race 3: Red Bull Italy's breakthrough*
The biggest shock of the day arrived in race three. Ruggero Tita and Red Bull Italy shook off a difficult opening to the event and delivered something historic, sailing cleanly and quickly through a volatile fleet to claim their first-ever SailGP race win since joining the league earlier in the year. The result felt hard-earned, the crew carrying none of the hesitation that had cost them in race one.
Los Gallos Spain again threatened at the front, finishing second and demonstrating they could match anyone in these conditions. The Black Foils kept their momentum alive with third. France climbed to fourth, offering Delapierre and the home supporters a modest lift, though clearly short of what the occasion demanded. Emirates GBR collected sixth, not a headline result but another set of points banked against a volatile scoreboard.
Fletcher was candid about what the racing felt like from inside the boat. "We had plenty of wild moments but when you're powered up on those wings and it's shifty in Saint-Tropez – it doesn't get any better!" he said afterwards.
*Fleet Race 4: Fletcher steadies the ship*
By the fourth race the mistral had reached full force, sending boats skimming across the bay at close to 100 km/h, with crashes and near misses punctuating almost every leg. In those conditions, Emirates GBR found their best. Fletcher and strategist Hannah Mills made the right calls at the moments when others were making the wrong ones, steering clear of the chaos to take the race win.
Germany produced their strongest sail of the event to cross in second, their boat registering 97 km/h on the speed gun. Mubadala Brazil drove home in third, completing a strong comeback given where they had started the weekend. France gathered fourth, better than earlier in the day but still falling short of the home performance the crowd had hoped for. The BONDS Flying Roos and Black Foils both ended up mid-fleet, unable to impose themselves on conditions that refused to cooperate. Los Gallos Spain, who had been so consistent all afternoon, finished last.
Mills captured the challenge plainly. "It felt like you made a call and then immediately it was the wrong call, because the wind was changing so quickly. You had to be so adaptable, ready for anything," she said.
*Mid-event standings*
Four races, four different winners, and a leaderboard that reflected every lurch and shift of the day's racing. Emirates GBR led by a single point at the break, with the Black Foils breathing down their necks.
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Emirates GBR held the advantage without ever looking comfortable, which was itself a kind of achievement in such unpredictable conditions. Los Gallos Spain's third place overall spoke to their strong afternoon, while BONDS Flying Roos sat adrift of where defending champions would expect to find themselves.
*What the second day requires*
Emirates GBR had led without dominating, which made continued vigilance essential. Fletcher's team would need to keep finding top-six results to protect a lead that could evaporate with a single bad race. The Black Foils remained the most dangerous rival in the fleet, but Burling's crew needed to eliminate the mid-fleet finishes that had prevented them from converting their speed into a commanding position.
Los Gallos Spain carried genuine momentum into the final day. Another collapse like race four would cost them dearly, but if they could rediscover their earlier consistency, a podium was a realistic target. Germany by Deutsche Bank and Mubadala Brazil were both trending in the right direction, with one or two more strong results capable of pushing either into final contention.
France remained stuck in the mid-table, neither consistent enough to threaten the top nor poor enough to write off. Delapierre would need to find something more to satisfy the crowd who had come specifically to cheer him on. And BONDS Flying Roos, who had gone from first to tenth in two races before largely disappearing from the conversation, required something of a reset if Slingsby's team intended to protect their Championship lead through to the end of the weekend.
*The only constant is unpredictability*
Across four races in Saint-Tropez, four different boats won and the leaderboard flipped with almost every start. BONDS Flying Roos rose and fell in the space of two races. Los Gallos Spain soared then crashed. Neither Emirates GBR nor the Black Foils had escaped the turbulence entirely. The mistral had stripped away any illusion that the day's results would follow a predictable order.
What the standings made clear was that the winners of SailGP events tend not to be the fastest boats on the water, but the ones that manage damage most effectively when everything goes wrong. Fletcher's Emirates GBR had shown exactly that kind of composure. Whether anyone could match it, or surpass it, would be answered the following day.
