They were the favourites and they did it: Team Emirates GBR won the fifth Rolex SailGP season. The British crown in Abu Dhabi followed a strongly contested season. "The British were one of the favourites for me before the SailGP final. They sailed by far the best season and were well deserving winners," said Team Germany's helmsman Erik Kosegarten-Heil after the final in the United Arab Emirates. Click here for the final results of the season championship.
The hotly contested SailGP season victory
In fact, the victory crowns an extraordinary year for the team led ashore by Sir Ben Ainslie. It all began with the return of 49er Olympic champion Dylan Fletcher in Dubai last November - and has now been completed. The Brits were the only team to win three events in this fifth SailGP season and took eleven victories in the fleet races.
At the victory party in Abu Dhabi, Fletcher said with some humour: "It was incredibly stressful - as if we were competing against the best sailors in the world... When it came down to it, you could see how close it was at the top. Any one of us could have won this final race. I'm very happy that it was us."
In fact, each of the three final teams had their time in the decisive three-way battle for the winner's prize money of two million US dollars. The Australian Bonds Flying Roos led by Tom Slingsby opened strongly, initially taking the lead. The Kiwis then chased them down. Peter Burling cut a fine figure, even with an injured right index finger and a spare oar, when his Black Foils took the lead.
Many lead changes in the big SailGP final
There was a brief back-and-forth between the New Zealanders and the Brits, but then the Kiwis pulled away and maintained a commanding lead until the third gate. There, the Brits, who were just behind in third place, decided to split. Whilst the Kiwis struggled around the left-hand mark and the Australians followed, the Brits chose the right-hand mark.
This was their winning move, as Dylan Fletcher and his team subsequently found considerably more pressure on their side of the course. Within a very short space of time, they had a lead of almost 200 metres on race section four. After that, they left nothing to chance. The Australians and New Zealanders followed with some distance to the finish.
Team Emirates GBR pocketed a total of 2.4 million dollars in prize money this weekend alone! Two million dollars for winning the Grand Final and an additional 400,000 dollars for scoring the most points this season. Over the entire season, the British team won an incredible 4.4 million US dollars, while the Black Foils took home 1.76 million US dollars and Australia 1.2 million US dollars.
The team was brilliant." Sir Ben Ainslie
British Team Principal and CEO Sir Ben Ainslie said: "I am so proud of the team, both on the water and on land. It's been a long season with lots of ups and downs, but to finish so strongly - winning the Impact League, winning the season overall and then winning the Grand Final - is a tremendous achievement."
Rockwool Racing rocks the Abu Dhabi event
Before the grand finale of the season's top three, the Danish team Rockwool Racing took the first event win ahead of Red Bull Italy with comeback helmsman Phil Robertson and the French. The Danes are already the eighth winners in what has been the most competitive of all five seasons in SailGP history. Click here for the final event results of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix.
Danish rider Nicolai Sehested said: "We've been in the final so many times and have failed so narrowly that it's good to finally get rid of this pressure - it's been on us for a while. You could feel it in the team headquarters for a long time. Hopefully this is a fresh start for us, where we can clear our heads, reboot and just race."
League boss Russell Coutts said after congratulating all the winners this weekend: "The 2025 season has been the most exciting season yet in the SailGP, with new teams making their mark and established forces being challenged like never before. Emirates GBR has put in one of the most convincing performances throughout the season - so it's only fitting that they end the year on top, beating the best in the world."
Team Germany in Abu Dhabi: like a season mirror
The Germany SailGP Team by Deutsche Bank finished its only second SailGP year in ninth place in the season rankings. In Abu Dhabi, things went like a mirror image of the entire season for driver Erik Kosegarten-Heil and his crew. Furiose successes such as the race win at the start were followed by crashes in the Arabian light wind area, such as last place in the second race. The subsequent 6th, 10th, 3rd and 12th places led Team Germany to seventh place in the event rankings.
"We have moments and good chances of finishing at the front, but it's not yet consistent enough. That's the focus for the future. We have a slightly different configuration next year, but I don't want to give too much away yet," said Erik Kosegarten-Heil. Further crew changes are expected at the German racing team following the retirement of Jonathan Knottnerus-Meyer.
Shortly before the final, team CEO Tim Krieglstein had already A first assessment. His assessment: "We look back on a season of two faces: defeat and resurrection." Krieglstein was referring to the difficult first half of the season, in which the historically highest league penalty total of twelve minus points weighed on his team for a long time as a result of training collisions in Sydney.
SailGP season six begins in January
Krieglstein was also referring to Team Germany's comeback in the second half of the season. It began with the first race win at the acclaimed home premiere in Sassnitz. The highlight was the first German event victory on Lake Geneva. After a breathless year, the team is planning a two-week Christmas break before the sixth SailGP season begins on 17 and 18 January in the strong winds of Perth, Australia. Including the new Swedish team Artemis Racing, 13 teams will then open the new sixth SailGP season.
