SportOther SportsSailingDylan Fletcher believes Team Emirates GBR were unfortunate to miss the SailGP final in Portsmouth, with the reigning champions finishing bottom of their group despite flashes of promise on home waters.Joseph Saunders08:18, 27 Jul 2026Driver Dylan Fletcher felt Team Emirates GBR were unfortunate to finish bottom of Group B at their home SailGP race in front of a 20,000-strong crowd on the Solent.‌The British boat finished fifth and sixth in their two group fleet races, missing out on qualification for the final at the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Portsmouth by eight points, with the Swedish and Swiss boats progressing instead. Fletcher did see his crew storm off the line in the final race, only to be pipped to the first mark by the Swiss, resulting in a terminal loss of speed and falling off the foils.‌He said: “It was difficult. In the first race we just got boxed around a bit and didn't really have the opportunity very often to go where we wanted, and the second race was over after mark one for us. We know we chipped away and got back into the fleet a bit but ultimately we were miles behind after being off the foils.‌“Yesterday we didn't start well enough in two races and from there the level was higher in our fleet than the other fleet.BONDS Flying Roos, the season championship leaders from Australia, were unable to progress too, instead ceding the top two positions to Canada’s NorthStar and Spain’s Los Gallos. And it was the Spanish who clinched their second consecutive victory and went clear of reigning SailGP champions Emirates GBR in second place, with USA SailGP Team and Sweden’s Artemis both leapfrogging the Brits in the championship too.Fletcher said: “Especially yesterday, there weren't many overtaking lanes so it's very difficult for us to come back from those poor starts. It was different today - we managed to get on top of the starts and worked with the whole team to remedy that. That was nice to see, so as frustrating as it is, there are some little positives to take away from the weekend but it unravelled after that in both races.‌“It was a fairly slow bleed in the first race and I can't quite put my finger on what happened. Then in the second race, there was a fundamental mistake round mark one. I don't know exactly what it was but effectively, that was race over at that point.”The previous race in Halifax saw teams split into two groups for the fleet racing, a format that SailGP is set to continue until the end of the season.Fletcher said: “The longer group racing goes on, the fairer it becomes. You inevitably end up with a higher quality and lower quality fleet each weekend, and it can just be down to conditions and what goes on.Article continues below“I think the B fleet was the tougher fleet this time around, but next time around it might be different.“I thought it was a fantastic course today with really interesting racing opportunities and great positioning in front of the crowd.”The Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix returned to Portsmouth at the weekend. For more information about what happened, please visit //SailGP.com/PortsmouthChoose Daily Mirror as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.‌Halifax Inc.Sailing