“Denmark’s Rokoll Racing tops the standings on Day 1 of the SailGP Finals.”

Denmark’s Rokoll Racing team led the standings on the first day of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sailing Grand Prix – the concluding round of the SailGP 2025 season – organized by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council at Zayed Port along the Abu Dhabi Corniche waterfront, with the participation of 12 international teams competing on high-performance F50 catamarans that can exceed speeds of 100 km/h.

The Danish team, captained by Nicolai Sehested, includes Olympic champions, world-record speed holders, and global explorers — a highly experienced crew determined to make a strong mark in the 2025 season. Switzerland finished second, while Mubadala Brazil placed third.

All teams used for the first time the new 27.5-meter wing, along with foils and rudders designed for light winds, to maximize performance in breeze speeds ranging between 7–10 km/h. Even the most seasoned crews faced difficulties amid the congestion on one of the narrowest racecourses in the SailGP calendar.

Abu Dhabi is now preparing to crown the 2025 SailGP champion tomorrow. The season title fight is extremely close between four teams: Emirates Great Britain with 85 points led by Sir Ben Ainslie, New Zealand’s Black Foils with 82 points led by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, Australia’s Flying Roos with 80 points led by Tom Slingsby, and Spain’s Los Gallos with 76 points led by Diego Botín and Florian Trittel.

The Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sailing Grand Prix awards 10 points for first place, 9 points for second, 8 for third, and 7 for fourth, determining the season’s overall champion, who will receive a prize of USD 2 million.

Nicolai Sehested, captain of the Danish team, said:
“I think the key to our success today was the positive atmosphere and the smooth teamwork between myself, TJ, and Ed. It was my first time sailing with Ed, and the communication was incredibly smooth — everything felt perfect.”

He added:
“It’s also one of the few times we’ve shown such strong speed in light-wind conditions during the first two races. The decisions we made today were different — we were breaking away from the rest of the fleet, while normally we’d have to fight harder in these conditions. But today things were much easier. You always need to sail fast to avoid getting tangled with the other boats, which is something we usually excel at in strong winds. It’s great to see we’re now performing this well in light winds too.”

Abu Dhabi represents the twelfth and final stop of SailGP Season 5, which included events in Dubai, Auckland, Sydney, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Portsmouth, Sassnitz, Saint-Tropez, Geneva, and Cádiz.

All 12 teams will return to the water tomorrow for two or three additional qualifying races — depending on conditions — before crowning the event winner and calculating the overall season standings. The top three teams will qualify for the final, decisive race. Racing begins on Sunday, November 30, at 2:00 PM Gulf Standard Time.

This week’s total prize purse amounts to USD 3.2 million: USD 800,000 for the top three finishers of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sailing Grand Prix, USD 400,000 for the highest-scoring team of the season, and USD 2 million for the winner of the championship finale.

Standings after Day 1

Rokoll Racing (Denmark)

Switzerland

Mubadala Brazil

Red Bull Italy

United States

Canada’s NorthStar

Germany

New Zealand Black Foils

France

Emirates Great Britain

Australia’s Bundas Flying Roos

Spain’s Los Gallos

Season 5 Standings (so far)

Emirates Great Britain – 85 pts

New Zealand Black Foils – 82 pts

Australia’s Bundas Flying Roos – 80 pts

Spain’s Los Gallos – 76 pts

France – 61 pts

Canada’s NorthStar – 48 pts

Denmark’s Rokoll Racing – 83 pts

Switzerland – 38 pts

Germany – 31 pts

Red Bull Italy – 22 pts

Mubadala Brazil – 16 pts

United States – –4 pts