#SailGP Portsmouth: Emirates GBR Reignite on Home Waters

Four podium finishes for GBR, a roaring Southsea crowd, and finally, redemption for Fletcher and Mills; From France’s wing disaster to Australia’s late charge — Day 1 did not miss drama 🇬🇧 Home Waters, Home Fire Dare to Ask: What happens when Emirates GBR finally clicks? Dylan Fletcher’s crew came out swinging : 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd. No mistakes. No drama. Just precision and power in front of thousands of fans on Southsea Common. “The team’s been working really hard… it’s really nice to have a good Saturday in front of a home crowd.” “Once you got the hang of it, it was easy. We seemed to be sailing fast, good handling—really good job by the team.” With five onboard, Emirates GBR ran a different config: Hannah Mills stayed back for strategy , and Neil Hunter was the one to sit out. “It’s really important to have Hannah focus on the strategy and steering through the maneuvers,” said Fletcher. “To come off the water and have your family right there to say well done — or commiserate — it’s amazing,” added Mills. 🇫🇷 Down Before They Started Dare to Ask: How does a wing collapse at 11 knots? France SailGP Team  never made it to the starting line. In pre-race training, their wing collapsed mid-tack  — ruling them out of Day 1 entirely. “I was really surprised — it wasn’t even windy,” said Quentin Delapierre.“We were lining up for a tack… and then the wing just went down. First reaction was to check on my teammates and make sure everyone was okay.” 🇨🇭 Swiss Precision Rising Who’s giving GBR a serious scare? Switzerland , driven by Sébastien Schneiter , ended Day 1 just six points behind the Brits, after a standout performance that included a race win. “After New York, the starts were our biggest focus — we really worked on that the last month,”  said Schneiter. “We just went all out around the course, especially in the pre-start. It paid off.” Strategist Maud Jayet  was sharp and calm: “I actually didn’t turn the handles today — I stayed in the back and focused fully on strategy. That made a huge difference.” 🇦🇺 Late Surge from the Flying Roos Can Australia still fight back? It wasn’t smooth sailing for Tom Slingsby’s Australia  early on — but they nailed Race 4 and ended Day 1 tied on points with New Zealand . “It felt like you needed a sword and shield out there,”  said Slingsby. “We were battling away in the middle of the pack, but in the last race we got away clean and did a little number on Spain at the bottom mark. I felt bad, but I wasn’t going back into the pack again.” On the layout: “The course was a bit of a one-way track… I hope the race committee opens it up. I get that we want to be close to spectators, but give us some overtaking lanes.” 🇳🇿 Black Foils in the Shadows What if small mistakes are the only thing stopping you? Peter Burling’s Black Foils , reigning UK champs from Plymouth 2023, stayed consistent but not dominant. “You could only overtake if someone made a mistake. We made a few. That’s what’s hurting us most.” “If we clean up just 1–2 errors per race, we’re top 3 — no question.” 🇨🇦 Tough Day for a New Driver How does Canada rebound under new leadership? Giles Scott , Olympic champ turned SailGP driver, struggled with positioning and pace: “We just didn’t have the speed to overtake anyone. We struggled today — need to go look at the data.” “The first leg was short, then you had to jibe immediately. If you didn’t pull off the jibe, you got stuck. We only nailed one out of four.” Strategist Elodie-Jane Mettraux  added: “It was really frustrating. Most of the teams that rounded Mark 1 in first also won the race. There weren’t many chances to catch up.” 🇩🇰 Danes in the Melee When nothing goes right, how do you reset? Nicolai Sehested’s Denmark  had the worst of it: penalties, crashes, poor starts. “We were in the melee—traffic, dodging boats, crashdowns. We didn’t get off the line. The whole works.” “We let frustration manifest a little. The key overnight is not to throw toys out with the bathwater. We know we’re capable — just gotta make a few tweaks.” Is the Course Too Tight? Does stadium-style sailing come at the cost of real racing? Multiple skippers spoke out: “The course was super condensed. No real overtaking lanes.” “Mark 1 was a bottleneck. Everyone jibe-stacked instantly. That’s where the danger was.” “It was intense. Not much fun, just survival.”