Emirates GBR runners-up in Auckland on wild day on Waitemata Harbour

 

The Emirates GBR SailGP Team secured their second consecutive podium finish of the 2026 SailGP Season in full-on conditions at the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix in Auckland.

History was made in the City of Sails as SailGP debuted a split-fleet format on day two of the Grand Prix. The decision to run a split fleet followed Saturday's explosive opening day, which saw a major collision between the home team, the Black Foils, and the DS Team France SailGP Team, which put both teams out of the final day of racing.

Saturday's conditions were big but stable. Sunday's were fresh to frightening, with changeable gusts and rain squalls pushing wind speeds close to 60 km/h.

Emirates GBR started the day in fine form in their Group A fleet race, taking the win ahead of the NorthStar Canadian Team, Germany, and Italy. All teams raced on the edge, narrowly escaping incident in the testing conditions. NorthStar hit a near record breaking speed of 102 km/h at one point, just shy of SailGP's all-time race speed record of 103.93 km.

Meanwhile, in Group B, the BONDS Flying Roos dominated and qualify for the Grand Final, followed by Spain, who out-hustled Artemis SailGP Team.

In the Grand Final, the British team finished ahead of Spain but behind the BONDS Flying Roos in the winner-takes-all showdown. The three SailGP heavyweights are the only teams in the 13-strong fleet to have won a SailGP Championship, and the gloves were off as they exchanged blows in huge gusts on Auckland's iconic Waitemata Harbour.

Emirates GBR SailGP Team Strategist Hannah Mills added:

"It was a busy day in the office, a tight racecourse, massive pressure changes, and boats coming from all sorts of angles with the wind shifts. It was all on. That meant every team member had to be completely on their game, making the right calls just to get around the course in one piece, and I felt we did that really well.

"It's only event two of the season, and after seeing what happened yesterday, making sure the people and the boat were safe was the priority. It was a risk-versus-reward call, and backing off when we did was the right decision. We'll take that second place, roll on Sydney."

British fans can next see Emirates GBR in action in Sydney, Australia, as SailGP remains in the Southern Hemisphere for one more event — the KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix — on February 28-March 1.