06/09/2026
by Emma Harrison
We’re reaching the business end of the Rolex SailGP Championship as we head to Spain this weekend for the DP World Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía – Cádiz, the penultimate event on the 2025 calendar and the final one to be staged in Europe.
After that, it’s the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix 2025 Season Grand Final, so it’s now or never for the five teams that can still be crowned champions for the 2025 season.
All of which makes this weekend’s racing even more crucial than usual.
All to Play For as We Head to Andalucía – Cádiz
There’s certainly not much in it between the top four in the current standings.
Leading the way are the BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team on 76 points, having picked up a priceless runner-up spot, and the nine points that go with that, at the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix in Geneva a couple of weeks ago.
Hot on their heels are the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team on 75 after being awarded seven valuable points of their own in Switzerland, courtesy of a fourth-place finish.
Then it’s Peter Burling and his Black Foils SailGP Team on 73, the Kiwis taking just three points from the Geneva event after a modest eighth-place finish a fortnight ago.
Just three points behind them are the Los Gallos SailGP Team, who, of course, are on home waters this weekend. A fifth-place finish on Lake Geneva saw them collect six points for their troubles and they’re the fourth and last of the teams that can still qualify for the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix in the last weekend of October.
A reminder that the Grand Final, which takes place at the end of the Abu Dhabi event, is a one-off race to decide the winner of the whole Championship. It’s only contested by the top three in the Championship standings, also taking into account the points from the six Abu Dhabi fleet races. And, also a reminder that the maximum number of points you can get from one event is 10.
Challenging Waters Ahead for Les Bleus
So with just two events remaining, that means that the France SailGP Team on 56 points has a real mountain to climb. They’d need a minimum of 17 points from the last two events just to tie with the Black Foils and that’s assuming the latter won’t get any points at all from the remaining events in Andalucía – Cádiz and Abu Dhabi.
Les Bleus would also need Los Gallos to have really poor events seeing as the Spanish are currently 14 points ahead of them. So whereas it’s not impossible for the French to qualify for the Grand Final, it’s highly unlikely.
But anyone below Les Bleus really can’t win it. That includes the Germany SailGP Team Presented by Deutsche Bank, who picked up the maximum 10 points after winning in Geneva, but who left it all a little too late for their run at a top three finish.
For the record, in winning that event, Germany by Deutsche Bank became the seventh team this season to win one of the 10 events, a reminder, as if any was needed, that anything can happen in SailGP.
Don’t Rule Out Los Gallos Defending Their Title
The Rolex SailGP Championship winner odds were updated after Geneva and as we know, only five teams can win the Championship from here.
The BONDS Flying Roos are the 2.51 favorites to go all the way, Emirates GBR are the next shortest in the betting at 3.12, just ahead of the Black Foils, who are rated 3.21 chances.
Los Gallos, who would be right in the mix to make it to Abu Dhabi in normal circumstances, and even more so given they have home advantage this weekend, look a surprisingly big price at 11.24 to win the whole thing. Let’s not forget that they are, after all, the defending champions.
Tactical Racing On the Cards in Spain
Whether they can still make the Grand Final or not, all 12 teams will be desperate to put on a good show in southern Spain this weekend with points, prize money and pride, all at stake in equal measure.
But what might make the racing even more fascinating than usual this weekend is the fact that those five who can still qualify for the Grand Final will be well aware of what they need to do to make it to the end-of-season showdown. And they will be almost as concerned with what’s happenining with their rivals’ boats, as their own.
That could lead to some serious tactical racing as those four play out a game of cat-and-mouse on the water.
How do we know that? Because Los Gallos frontman Diego Botin said as much:
“It’s a game of experience, and knowing how to play the game. The three teams in front of us know the game well, and I’m sure they’re going to play their cards well. Many things can happen – the fleet is super close and it’s very possible to slip up and have a bad event, even for the best teams. We have to be there making things hard for them. We want to be putting pressure on other teams, not making silly mistakes, taking opportunities and going full on when we get the chance to take that spot in the Grand Final.”
It sounds like Botin can’t wait to get out there on the water and secure the points needed to make the Abu Dhabi final. And if he’s impatient to see how things unfold this weekend, he’s certainly not the only one: tickets for Saturday’s racing are already sold out.
Starting points for our US readers
Starting points for our UK readers
Starting points for our Global readers
SailGP at Prediction Market Sites