The Rolex SailGP Championship’s 2025 Season comes to its dramatic finish in two weeks’ time. Three can race, but only one can win the sport’s top prize (US $2M) at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix Season 2025 Grand Final presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council, November 29-30.
The Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix 2025 Season Grand Final consists of two days of 12-boat fleet races, after which an event winner will be crowned and season points tallied, in order to determine the top three teams who will advance to the Grand Final – a single, winner-takes-all showdown. The rules are simple, the stakes are sky-high: first across the line claims the title, the glory, and the $2 million prize purse – the largest in the sport.
Hosted at Mina Zayed in the bustling city of Abu Dhabi, the top three national teams on the leaderboard – Emirates Great Britain, the Black Foils (New Zealand), the BONDS Flying Roos (Australia) – are all well positioned to make the Grand Final. The outlier to watch; however, is Diego Botin and Spain (Los Gallos) – Season 4 Rolex SailGP Champions – who still have a chance of year-on-year success should they have a standout result in the fleet racing series. Only two teams have ever lifted the Rolex SailGP Championship trophy, the BONDS Flying Roos, three-time champions across Seasons 1, 2 and 3, and Los Gallos, who claimed their first title last July.
Over the 11 events so far this season Emirates GBR have racked up 11 race wins and 29 podium finishes – making them the fleet’s in-form team. The Black Foils have secured 10 race wins, finishing 24 times in the top three, while the BONDS Flying Roos trail just behind with nine race wins and 22 podium finishes. Los Gallos have secured just five race wins – but have finished in the top three 18 times. Emirates GBR have won three events this season, while New Zealand and Spain have each won two. Australia has won a single event in 2025.
Over the course of the 2025 Season, a total of $12M USD is up for grabs – the largest prize purse in the sport of sailing. $9.6M has been doled out so far, with $2M up for grabs to the Grand Final winner, and $800,000 available to the top-three placed teams in the Abu Dhabi event final. So far this season, Emirates GBR top the prize money leaderboard with $2M in the bank, followed by the Black Foils with $1.76M. The BONDS Flying Roos and Los Gallos have each secured $1.2M.
All four drivers contesting the Grand Final are Olympic gold medallists – Dylan Fletcher (EGBR), Peter Burling (NZL), Tom Slingsby (AUS), Diego Botin (ESP). Across the top-four placed crews, athletes boast 20 Olympic medals: Emirates GBR lead the tally with 7, the Black Foils have 6, BONDS Flying Roos 4, and Los Gallos 3.
This event will see the debut of SailGP’s newly developed 27.5-meter wing, tested in Cádiz. The middle ground between SailGP’s 24-meter all-purpose wing and 29-meter lightair configuration, the new development provides greater versatility across the wind range, setting the stage for a tactical, dynamic weekend on the water.
Emirates GBR
2025 has been a breakthrough season for Emirates GBR. Dylan Fletcher replaced Giles Scott in SailGP’s, joining strategist Hannah Mills to form an almost-immediately dominant partnership – led behind-the-scenes by sailing great Sir Ben Ainslie, Principal and CEO. The Olympic gold medallists have had three event victories and six Final appearances. Despite a brief slump in the U.S. series of events, they remain this season’s benchmark team.
Black Foils
The Black Foils remain a model of precision and consistency, having made five Finals this season and holding the best ‘foiling score’ of the fleet – the measure of the quality of foiling – not just fly time. The team continues to push performance boundaries, even as a championship title still eludes them. Currently undefeated in the UAE, could this be the year Peter Burling finally lifts the Rolex SailGP Championship trophy?
BONDS Flying Roos
Three-time champions the BONDS Flying Roos entered 2025 with a point to prove – after missing out on their first championship title, they also lost wing trimmer Kyle Langford to Red Bull Italy. Across the season, they’ve delivered – making five event Finals, though just one victory. A seventh in Cádiz dented momentum, but with Tom Slingsby’s leadership and four previous Grand Finals, they remain a serious threat.
Spain
Defending champions Los Gallos have had an erratic but explosive season. Led by Diego Botin, fresh off a 49er World Championship win, they’re inconsistent yet lethal under pressure – with the best rate of ‘wins’ in the three-boat Finals they’ve made (two out of three this season). While the odds narrowed after a disappointing string of results in Europe, Spain remains the wildcard capable of delivering when it matters most.
Dylan Fletcher, driver Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team – “We’re absolutely buzzing for the racing in Abu Dhabi. To be sat where we are in the standings heading into the Grand Final is super exciting. We’ve had quite a rollercoaster of a season where we started off strong, then took a downward turn at the US events, but then we brought it back in Europe and finished that leg on a high by winning the last event in Cadiz. This is my first season with the team so it’s great to be leading the standings heading into the final event. We’ve been doing a lot of preparation as a team to make sure we are performing at our best in Abu Dhabi.”
Peter Burling, driver Black Foils – “We’ve had a great run of success in the UAE and it’s exciting to take that momentum into the final event of the season. It’s exciting to have a new Grand Final location – the nature of the course and conditions should make for very tight racing. While we’ve seen light air in the past, you have to be prepared to cover all bases. I know as a team we are really excited to get to Abu Dhabi, we’ve focused on trying to build and develop across this season and on making gains between each event. Everyone is looking forward to getting back on the water after a break and pushing for our ultimate goal.”
Tom Slingsby, driver BONDS Flying Roos – “We are looking forward to the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi. The points are tight with four teams battling for three positions in the final. We need to sail a solid event to secure our spot in the final and then we will just have to go out there and execute. We know we can perform under pressure as we have done this before so we just need to do it again.”
Diego Botin, driver Spain SailGP Team (Los Gallos) – “It’s been a challenging second half of the season for us. We are in a hard position to make it into the three boat Grand Final in Abu Dhabi but the small course and the potential light winds open the chances for things to get crazy. For us, it will be about being aggressive and playing our cards the best possible way to make the most of our chances.”
Killer Merlot
Sport Trivia: Who beat South Africa twice in the 1992 Cricket World Cup? Answer: England. South Africa played against England in the group stage on 12 March 1992 in Melbourne, and England won by 3 wickets. They then faced each other again in the semi-finals on the 22 March in Sydney, and England won by 19 runs.
Whip Chu
England is the only team in the northern hemisphere to have won the Rugby World Cup – Given the game’s origins in England, statistically southern hemisphere teams are wayyyyyyy better at rugby. In total there have been 9 Rugby World Cups. New Zealand have won 3, South Africa have won 3, Australia have won it twice, and England are the only team in the northern hemisphere to have won it. Maybe the Rugby World Cup 2023 hosted in France will be another win for a European team though!