The Rolex SailGP Championship’s 2026 Season opener has already wrought havoc across the fleet – with New Zealand out for the weekend after a shocking collision with the Swiss in race one.
Artemis top the event leaderboard after a commanding performance that included two race wins. It was a standout day for the U.S. who trail the Swedish heading into day two, while DS Automobiles Team France round out the podium group in third. All three nations are tied on points – 31 each – going into Championship Sunday.
The event was over as soon as it began for New Zealand and Switzerland, who collided on the second leg of the weekend’s opening fleet race. The Black Foils found themselves taking on water with a huge chunk of their stern floating, after being rammed from behind by the Swiss. Appearing to misjudge the distance he had to manoeuvre, Burling was penalised eight points for breaking rule 14 – avoiding contact.
Peter Burling reflected onshore: “Yeah, super tough day for us – we did everything we could to keep clear and didn’t expect to be in this situation. Their [the Swiss] bow went through the back of our boat. Everyone is pretty shaken up and frustrated, but we’re interested in the outcome of the [penalty] hearing and understanding the way forward.”
A visibly-shaken Sébastien Schneiter – driver for the Swiss – said, “The focus is on tomorrow – we knew this season would be challenging and it’s not going to be the last time we will see those moments. For us it’s about how we can bounce back from this. We are super motivated to get back out there tomorrow and grow as a team from this”
Repairs to the Swiss’ F50 are ongoing, in a race to get the team back on the startline tomorrow. Bonds Flying Roos went on to win in race one – a result driver Tom Slingsby called, “awesome.”
Slingsby said, “It was amazing being at home for this event and just seeing a massive crowd there supporting and cheering for us – especially when we got a race win, that was awesome. We are hoping for the same again tomorrow, and hopefully we can have a little less chaos, but good quality racing tomorrow.”
Race two went the way of DS Team France, who blasted off the line to lead the fleet at mark one. Quentin Delappiere’s new-look French crew were the picture of cool, maintaining their lead throughout as they held off Artemis, who picked their way from ninth at the start to sweep across the line in second.
In race three, Nathan Outteridge claimed his inaugural Artemis win after a smooth overtake of the French – who fell off the foils in their final race manoeuvre. It was the first of two consecutive race victories for Outteridge, who also led the fleet in race four – securing the points needed to clinch pole position.
Leaving no doubt as to why he’s called ‘the Wind Whisperer,’ Outteridgesaid, “Yeah, it wasn’t really expected, like there has been a bit of hype about what we can do as a team and an internal pressure to come in and do well and after the first race, it wasn’t looking too well so it was nice to bounce back and have three really good races to finish the day off.”
Among the standout performances on day one was the U.S. SailGP Teamwith Taylor Canfield’s all-American crew picking up three podium finishes, plus a fourth in race two. Canfield said, “With how hectic the day was for everyone – we are really pleased with how we sailed. We kept it rock solid all the way around the track and just chipped away at it. A few ups and downs in the races but always ended up on a high.”
Spain did not complete after sustaining significant damage in practice.
The Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix, presented by KPMG returns tomorrow, Sunday January 18 at 1pm local time. Find out more at SailGP.com/Watch.
