Aussies shine in New York with two wins to remain in the fight but Spain steals the show
by BONDS Flying Roos 9 Jun 19:32 NZST
7-8 June 2025
BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team helmed by Tom Slingsby sails past the SailGP Race Stadium and SailGP Grandstand on Race Day 2 of the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix in New York, USA © Ricardo Pinto for SailGP
The BONDS Flying Roos delivered glimpses of greatness on day two of the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix, securing their second fleet race win of the event and showcasing their championship credentials on their debut under new Hollywood co-ownership. After a penalty in the opening race of the day, the Australians bounced back in style before finishing strong with an emphatic win in the final fleet race of the day.
Their standings on Super Sunday - 11th, 5th and 1st - reflected the highs and lows of a weekend that demanded precision and punished even the smallest mistakes, which meant the Australians just missed out on a place in the Podium Final.
Driver, CEO and Co-owner Tom Slingsby commented on the day saying, "It was a real tough day out there. If you executed your maneuvers well, I think you got really good results, but we were inconsistent. We had a few big stuff ups and we had some really bad races.
The current was moving all around and you had to really be on your game. You needed all of your sailing skills to be successful out there today and we felt like we were in touch, but we just had literally only a couple of manoeuvres that we messed up and that put us out of the running for the Final."
Spain, led by Olympic gold medallist Diego Botin, continued their dominant form to win the New York event, and secure their second victory of the season, proving they are the team to beat heading into the latter half of the Championship.
The refreshed 2025 Season leaderboard sees Australia sit in second place behind the Spanish by just one point.
When asked how his team would respond heading into the European leg of the circuit, Slingsby said, "In San Francisco, we were equal points with them before our wing collapsed. We won two races here at this event, we've got the skills to beat them. I've got full faith in that. It's just execution. We lacked execution this week, but we will regroup for the UK event."
While Denmark was forced to retire due to a wing issue, Martine Grael's Brazil claimed a historic moment, securing their first-ever fleet race win with a commanding performance in the opening race.
SailGP will now head to the UK for the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix on 19-20 July, making its debut in the historic British port city of Portsmouth.