Australia have retained their SailGP championship lead despite narrowly missing out in a hard-fought Final in Valencia, for what would have been a record sixth event win of the 2026 season.
Having built a valuable points buffer on day one, Tom Slingsby's crew managed to claw their way into the four-boat Final on Sunday (Monday AEST) after another tense day of qualifying races.
The Australians took the lead early in the final and held it for much of the race, maintaining a clear advantage over USA, Denmark and Italy as the crews battled through unpredictable light-air conditions.
But just when victory looked within reach, the race turned on a crucial final gate decision. The Australians chose to stick with the strategy that had worked throughout the day, only for the changing conditions to unravel their advantage – a call Slingsby later described as an own goal.
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The US SailGP Team exploited the opening on the final leg to take the lead and claim victory, despite a determined fightback from the Flying Roos who crossed the line in second. Italy finished third in their first-ever event final, with Denmark fourth.
"The Final was 95 per cent good for us," Slingsby said.
"We did make an error at the bottom, the first upwind going for the foil. We got on the foils but we ended up fading into a right-hand pressure and the US were able to overtake.
"We were able to get them back pretty quickly but it came down to that last bottom mark gate decision.
"In hindsight, I look at that as an own goal. We should have taken the left turn. We're not a team that celebrates second and we don't apologise for that. We want to win. We're here to do one job and we've got to learn, and get better."
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Despite the narrow defeat, the Australians remain firmly in contention for a place in the winner-takes-all grand final in Abu Dhabi.
The result leaves the Australians with a record five event wins from 10 events this season and they remain at the top of the championship leaderboard on 85 points – 17 clear of Los Gallos in second.
The next event and third last of the season starts in Geneva on September 19.
