Fletcher rules the waves: sending message to SailGP Fleet with commanding Perth win

Emirates Great Britain have sent a message to the fleet with a commanding title defense – claiming a season-opening victory in the Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix, presented by KPMG.

The Brits ruled the waves on day two, defeating the Bonds Flying Roos (2nd) and DS Team France (3rd) in a Fremantle day that left no margin for error. Battling steep waves and 45 km/h gusts of wind, Emirates GBR driver Dylan Fletcher called the conditions “Absolutely incredible. This is why we came to Perth,” he continued, “To Fremantle, for the Doctor.”

Heading into the Final, Emirates GBR executed perfectly through the start – holding off a hard-pushing French crew as the Bonds Flying Roos were forced behind due to a pre-start boundary penalty. Despite their advances, Fletcher stayed ahead of his rivals – staying calm and sailing clean to gain a comfortable lead and sweep across the line first.

Rolling the dice, a decision by Quentin Delapierre to split away from the others heading into the penultimate leg spelled disaster for DS Team France, who were defeated on the final reach after a late burst of speed from the Bonds Flying Roos.

After his 2025 Season Grand Final triumph just over one month ago, Fletcher said he was on “cloud nine” after claiming victory in the Perth opener.

Fletcher said, “It’s been an incredible start for the team here in Perth,” Fletcher said. “We left a lot out there, with plenty still to work on, but I’m really proud of how the team has been chipping away each day. We had a disappointing start yesterday and didn’t get the results we wanted but we came out firing today, and I’m stoked with the result.”

Emirates GBR strategist Hannah Mills said, “We’ve had Stu come on board as wing trimmer which is a big dynamic shift. We’re really proud of how the team has come together this week – we kept a learning mindset and then put it into practice when we went racing. It doesn’t get much better than that, especially in Perth. It’s our flight controller’s hometown and for us to go out there with the Doctor coming in strong, amazing breeze and a bit of chop, it made it tricky to race the boats but it delivered phenomenal racing."

Despite missing out on an opening home victory, Bonds Flying Roos driver Tom Slingsby said the day was “amazing.”

Slingsby said, “I think Fremantle should be the final. It caused a bit of chaos and some damage as we are headed into the second event of the season, but I think this would be the best final venue. Imagine doing that three-boat final for a couple of million bucks – I think that’s how we should do it in the future.”

The Australians welcomed a late crew change – sail racing veteran Glenn Ashby – who stepped in for Iain ‘Goobs’ Jensen following an injury in training on Thursday.

Slingsby commented, “The hardest part is that Glenn hasn’t sailed in those conditions before. He hasn’t sailed with the 18-meter wing, T-foils, or any of that, so it’s really about supporting him and helping him through it. Goobs was in the coaching box, sitting there calling different things and bringing us into the start — he did a great job helping out. Glenn did such an amazing job stepping in on a couple of days’ notice and getting a result like that for our team and his country. He’s stoked to be racing for Australia, so it’s an awesome result for us and for him.”

Emirates GBR were the form team of the day – claiming back-to-back victories in fleet races five and six. Throughout, Fletcher only moved forward – not back – showing he can pick his way through the fleet in even the most challenging conditions. In the seventh and final qualifying fleet race of the day, the Northstar SailGP Team sailed away with the win and a 20-second lead – but it was too little, too late for Giles Scott ’s Canadian crew, who finished sixth on the event leaderboard.

Despite entering the day in pole position, newcomers Artemis missed out on a spot in their first event final after finishing 6th, 4th and 11th in the final three qualifying fleet races of the weekend. Artemis finished the weekend fourth overall – a result driver Nathan Outteridge is “really proud” of.

Outteridge said, “Fourth is an awesome result. It’s always hard to go from leading to missing the podium on day two. I’m really proud of the team – what a result. If you’d told me four months ago that we’d be fighting for the podium and winning races, I would have taken that. It hurts a bit today, especially the way it happened with a terrible start in the last fleet race, but it was a great weekend and the team did an amazing job.”

While Championship Sunday didn’t quite go their way – finishing 9th, 8th, 9th in the day’s fleet races – the U.S. SailGP Team sit fifth in the standings, with all the points tallied.

U.S driver Canfield said, "It wasn’t our best day execution-wise. We’re disappointed for sure, but we made some great strides. It’s not that we weren’t comfortable sailing in those conditions — we just made a few silly errors. It was a long day, but good progress. We definitely have a solid base in the big breeze now, and we’re super pleased with that, as it was one of the areas we wanted to improve."

The first of 13 events on the 2026 Season calendar, the Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix presented by KPMG has set the bar high, according to league CEO and co-founder Sir Russell Coutts. Almost 15,000 watched from the sold-out Race Stadium at Bathers Beach.

Coutts said, “Perth’s SailGP debut has exceeded expectations – with incredible racing and conditions built for the sport’s very best. The support we’ve had from the local community and our partners at Tourism Western Australia has been outstanding. With a sold-out Race Stadium and incredible engagement in the very first year – we can’t wait to be back in 2027, 2028 and hopefully for many years to come.”

Next month, the most exciting racing on water returns to another fan-favorite venue – Auckland, New Zealand (February 14-15). It will be a race against time to ensure the Black Foils make the startline, with extensive repairs needed after yesterday’s race one collision with the Swiss. Spain is expected to compete after their damage, sustained during a practice nosedive earlier in the week.