The Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix of the 2026 season will be remembered not only for the spectacle on the water, but for becoming one of the most unpredictable, chaotic and dramatic weekends in SailGP history. Between cancelled results, multiple collisions and last-minute technical failures, Tom Slingsby and Australia’s BONDS Flying Roos emerged from the Hudson River with their third consecutive victory of the season, strengthening a championship lead that is already beginning to look untouchable.
The road to victory, however, was built entirely on resilience. The weekend had already become extraordinary before a single point was officially scored. Brutal winds on Saturday forced organisers to halt crane operations, leaving most of the fleet stuck ashore. Although Spain managed to win two of the three races sailed by only a handful of boats, SailGP made a decisive overnight call, wiping Saturday’s results entirely due to the lack of fairness and restarting Sunday from zero with the full fleet back on the water.
For the Australian team, Sunday began badly. After a heavy nosedive on Saturday which required overnight repairs, the boat then suffered rudder damage after striking unidentified floating debris during morning training. Thanks to the work of the shore crew, the Flying Roos’ F50 made it to the start line at the last possible moment.
After a difficult opening race which ended with a ninth-place finish, Slingsby, whose team recently announced a Disney+ docuseries produced by Hollywood co-owners Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds, once again showed why he remains the dominant figure in SailGP. Australia followed with a second and a third place finish to secure a place in the three-boat final alongside Emirates GBR and a resurgent NorthStar Canada.
Before the final, chaos erupted during the third fleet race in what became the defining incident of the weekend. At the start line, Red Bull Italy driver Phil Robertson realised he was early to the line. In an attempt to avoid a penalty, he turned sharply to starboard, but the massive 27.5-metre wing blocked visibility across the boat. The United States team, led by Taylor Canfield, approached underneath with the crew positioned on the windward side and failed to spot the Italian manoeuvre.
The impact was violent. The American F50 drove directly into the bow of the Italian boat, while Mubadala Brazil, with nowhere left to escape, crashed into Italy from behind moments later. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries, but the structural damage was severe. The umpires acted quickly, the United States were disqualified and handed a seven-point event penalty, while Italy received a four-point sanction and now faces a race against time to repair the boat before the next event.
The collision immediately reignited debate around split fleets. Nathan Outteridge, driving for Sweden, criticised the decision not to use the reduced-fleet format on New York’s tight racecourse, while ROCKWOOL Denmark driver Nicolai Sehested argued the opposite, insisting incidents like this can still happen whenever boats are racing in close proximity.
“It was one bad moment that ruined a great day, but we have to take the positives from it. Nobody wants crashes, we need to look after each other and the boats,” Canfield said afterwards.
The three-boat final delivered the best racing of the weekend. In an unstable breeze and constantly shifting pressure, Giles Scott’s NorthStar Canada lost touch after sailing into a wind hole during the third leg, leaving Australia and Emirates GBR locked in a straight fight for victory.
Dylan Fletcher produced one of the strongest races of his SailGP season for the British team, splitting tactically at the bottom gate to move ahead by roughly 80 metres. But Slingsby responded on the fifth leg, finding stronger pressure on the left side of the course to pull Australia back into contention.
The climax came on the final approach to the last mark. Both boats converged aggressively, making contact in a split-second incident that immediately triggered protests from both teams. The British camp believed Australia had failed to keep clear and expected a penalty, but Chief Umpire Craig Mitchell ruled there had been no infringement by either side. Australia crossed the finish line just three seconds ahead of GBR.
Fletcher made little attempt to hide his frustration afterwards.
“We thought it was a very clear penalty against the Australians. From our position it was black and white that they hadn’t done enough to stay clear.”
Slingsby, meanwhile, described the conditions as “one of the hardest days sailing of my life” and dedicated the victory to the Australian shore crew who had rebuilt the boat in time to race.
The New York win extends Australia’s lead in the 2026 championship standings to 55 points, with Emirates GBR second on 44 and the United States third on 36. The biggest losers of the weekend were Spain’s Los Gallos, who saw their Saturday victories erased before hydraulic problems on Sunday dropped them to fourth overall on 34 points.
The championship now moves to the Canada Sail Grand Prix in Halifax on 20 and 21 June, an event expected to mark the return of the New Zealand Black Foils. The remaining question is whether Italy can repair its heavily damaged F50 in time to keep all 13 teams on the start line.
