Bonds Flying Roos, Los Gallos Locked on Points After Wild Bermuda Opener

The Bonds Flying Roos and Los Gallos top the table – tied on points (32 each) – after a fast and furious opening day of the Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix.

The Great Sound lived up to its reputation as one of the fastest and most unforgiving venues in the Rolex SailGP Championship with big gusts and razor sharp crosses making for dramatic racing and unpredictable results. The U.S. SailGP Team proved their consistent form once more, rounding out Day 1 in third (28 points).

The day got off to a flying start for the U.S. SailGP Team, producing a commanding lights-to-flag victory in front of the sold-out crowd. After nailing the start, Taylor Canfield’s crew never once looked threatened, while Germany presented by Deutsche Bank and NorthStar completed an unexpected podium after both teams executed smart split-course strategy through the middle stages.

U.S. SailGP Team driver Taylor Canfield said: “What an epic day we had here. It was crazy. There was one mark we were going past where there were boats on all different sides of us going different directions and we had to hope everything worked itself out.”

Early penalties proved costly for several SailGP heavyweights, including Emirates GBR, who were punished for not keeping clear of Los Gallos, while the Bonds Flying Roos looked poised for a comeback before a late penalty for fouling Spain dropped Tom Slingsby’s team back to eighth.

Race two belonged to the Bonds Flying Roos, who exploded off the start line and controlled the action from mark one. Behind them, ROCKWOOL Racing surged through the fleet with strong downwind pace to steal second from the Americans, while Los Gallos executed a late charge to edge onto the podium ahead of NorthStar and the U.S.

Race three produced some of the most chaotic racing seen this season. A wild, congested start saw ROCKWOOL Racing squeezed off the line by NorthStar, resulting in penalties and near-black-flag drama, while multiple teams struggled to find clean air in an increasingly frantic fleet.

Through the chaos, the Bonds Flying Roos and Los Gallos separated themselves from the pack by staying clear of traffic and sailing a cleaner tactical race. Diego Botín’s Spanish crew ultimately delivered one of their sharpest performances of the season to take victory ahead of the Australians, with Germany by Deutsche Bank continuing their impressive resurgence in third.

The final fleet race capped off a dramatic day with another statement performance from the Bonds Flying Roos. Red Bull Italy initially controlled the opening stages after leading around mark one, but Tom Slingsby’s crew made decisive gains on the right-hand side of the course to seize control by leg three. The Australians eventually held off Italy to secure their second win of the day, while Los Gallos’ fourth-place finish was enough to leave the Spanish tied with the Aussies atop the overall leaderboard heading into day two.

Three-time Rolex SailGP champion Tom Slingsby said: “Today was pretty much perfect for these boats. The racing was incredibly close, and conditions on the Great Sound were unreal – 13 to 17 knots, flat water, crystal-clear blue water. It’s the kind of day you dream about as a sailor. If you were writing down your ideal racing conditions, it would look a lot like today.”

Heading into championship Sunday tied for first, Los Gallos driver Diego Botín said, “The conditions were perfect to sail these boats with flat water. At the same time we were a bit overranged, with the wind it was super hard to sail these boats.”

Beyond the results, the day’s other story was DS Automobiles Team France and stand-in wing trimmer Glenn Ashby, who suffered an injury crossing the trampoline during race two. The French were initially sidelined; however, in a remarkable development, returned in race four, thanks to an emergency athlete registration of Bonds Flying Roos reserve athlete Tom Needham stepping into the wing trimmer role.

Artemis did not compete after discovering a technical issue onboard in pre-race practice, with the SailGP tech team working on a repair to get the Swedish crew back on the starting line tomorrow.

The most exciting racing on water returns tomorrow – Sunday May 10 – at 2 p.m. local time. Find out more at SailGP.com/Bermuda.