Team Spain take lead on Day 1 of inaugural Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

SailGP has never been more competitive as it kicked off 2024 in style at the first ever Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council, with spectacular close-to-shore racing this weekend.

A fantastic day’s action concluded with a high-energy performance by global music icons Take That, in front of packed crowds at Mina Zayed.

Despite the light wind the fleet was met with on the first day of racing, the Spain SailGP Team did not let that slow them down but instead, drove them to win two of three races. After a phenomenal opening day, Diego Botin’s Spain SailGP Team came off the waters of Mina Zayed accumulating the most points with New Zealand and the United States not far behind – respectively sitting in second and third place.

On winning two of three races, Diego Botin’s Spain SailGP Team Driver said: “We started the day in a poor position with a last place in the first race. But it was amazing to come back with two wins and be on top of the leaderboard. Here in Abu Dhabi it's great to sail in front of this crowd, this is a very tight course and the wind is very challenging but it's been a great experience.”

Following the racing, the day finished with a spectacular performance from the Back for Good trio – Take That – performing classic hits including Shine, Relight My Fire and Rule The World. It was a historic moment, being the first time SailGP has combined its action-packed racing with live entertainment – and there’s more to come over the weekend. For the final day of racing, DJ Saif and Sound, one of the UAE’s biggest music personalities, will perform onsite for fans to enjoy.

The Abu Dhabi event is full of firsts as SailGP saw major recent announcements across key teams with Ben Ainslie, GBR Team Driver stepping down, and Jimmy Spithall, Team USA moving to set up an Italian team for Season 5 - allowing for the next generation of sailors to enter the spotlight.

Young generation being a key focus for the event, the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council also saw a first for SailGP’s Inspire Programme - Abu Dhabi will host the largest Inspire program ever delivered. Mubadala, who became the Global Partner of the SailGP's youth and community outreach program for Season 4, has supported SailGP's efforts to champion STEM education and sport across all levels and throughout the event, 1,000 young people will be engaged through the program’s Learning, Careers and Racing pillars.