Martine Grael exits SailGP league

So much for progress.

During SailGP’s second season, the league introduced a mandatory female crew position in October 2021, marking a major step in the league’s drive toward gender equity. This coincided with the crew expanding from five to six sailors, and most teams adapted the female crew as strategist on the F50.

However, a longer-term goal was for the league’s first female helm, and that occurred in Season 5 when the Brazil SailGP Team entered with two-time Olympic gold medalist Martine Grael to helm for the 2024-25 schedule. But nearly two years later, Grael is off the boat.

After consistently finishing events at the bottom of the rank, and currently last of the 13 teams during Season 6, Grael is, as she reports, “officially unemployed.” With three events remaining, strategist Paul Goodison (GBR) takes the helm with reserve strategist Marina Arndt now onboard.

Grael’s announcement came with significant fan support:
• You’re a true inspiration. Can’t wait to see where this next chapter takes you. – Melanie Roberts
• You are a legend and a forever boundary breaker. – Anna Weis
• Thank you Martine for being a great role model for many girls around the world, both in the future and in the past. – Camilla Thorup Svensson

Grael is not the first helm to be replaced, as the Spanish team relieved Olympic 470 medalist Jordi Xammar during the third season, and Phil Robertson – current helm for Italy – was bounced from the Spanish and Canadian teams.

Here is the team statement:
The change in the team had already been professionally and strategically planned for this stage of the season, as part of the natural process of evaluation and evolution of a high-performance team. As always, we have a plan in place and a team prepared to manage these adjustments in the best possible way.

Paul Goodison will take the helm of the F50, while Marina Arndt will move into the strategist position. Both are experienced and highly qualified professionals who are already part of our structure and give us confidence to remain competitive through the final two events of the season.

As Martine Grael shared on her social media channels, the sailor has decided not to complete the 2026 season with the team.

Martine has been with us since the creation of the project and played an important role in this journey, contributing to the team’s development and growth over the past two years. We thank her for the partnership and for all the work we have carried out together.

At this time, our focus is on preparing for the final stages of the season. Further information regarding our next steps and plans for 2027 will be shared in due course.

SailGP information – How to watch

Season 6 Results (after 10 of 13 events)
1. Australia, Tom Slingsby (AUS), 2-1-5-1-1-1-4-7-1-2, 85 points
2. Spain, Diego Botin (ESP), 12-3-3-2-2-12-1-1-3-5, 68
3. United States, Taylor Canfield (USA), 5-7-1-4-7-6-6-6-11-1, 56
4. Sweden, Nathan Outteridge (AUS), 4-5-9-3-11-5-2-2-5-9, 55
5. Great Britain, Dylan Fletcher (GBR), 1-2-2-12-4-2-11-11-9-6, 51
6. Canada, Giles Scott (CAN/GBR), 6-10-11-10-6-3-8-3-2-10, 41
7. France, Quentin Delapierre (FRA), 3-4*-13-8-9-4-10-8-6-12, 41
8. Germany, Erik Heil (GER), 9-6-8-6-3-11-7-10-7-8, 35
9. Denmark, Nicolai Sehested (DEN), 8-9-6-5-7-12-9-10-4, 32
10. Switzerland, Sébastien Schneiter (SUI), 11-12-10-11-5-8-3-4-8-7, 32
11. Italy, Phil Robertson (NZL), 7-13-4-7-8-9-9-12-12-3, 30
12. New Zealand, Peter Burling (NZL), 13-8-12-13-13-13-5-5-4-11, 21
13. Brazil, Martine Grael/Paul Goodison (BRA/GBR), 10-11-7-9-12-10-13-13-13-13, 8
* Received compensation points for Sydney due to boat damage in Event 2.

Season 6 – 2026 Schedule:
• Jan 17-18 – Perth, Australia
• Feb 14-15 – Auckland, New Zealand
• Feb 28-March 1 – Sydney, Australia
• Apr 11-12  – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• May 9-10 – Hamilton, Bermuda
• May 30-31 – New York, USA
• June 20-21 – Halifax, Canada
• July 25-26- Portsmouth, GBR
• August 22-23 – Sassnitz, Germany
• Sept 5-6 – Valencia, Spain
• Sept 19-20 – Geneva, Switzerland
• Nov 21-22 – Dubai, UAE
• Nov 28-29 – Abu Dhabi, UAE
Note: The 11th event was moved to Geneva from Saint-Tropez, France.

Season 6 format:
• Thirteen teams compete in identical F50 catamarans.
• Each event is two days.
• The league has shifted to a split fleet format for qualifying, using season standings to balance the two groups.
• The top two from each fleet advance to a 4-boat final race for the event title.
• The season ends with the Grand Final event which includes the Championship Final Race for the top three teams in the season standing.
• All league teams are privately owned, with New Zealand as the last to be acquired on June 19, 2026.

Season 6 prize money:
A total of USD $12.8 million is up for grabs in 2026. The winner of each of the 13 events takes home $400,000, with $260,000 for second and $140,000 for third. The team with the most points at the end of the season wins $400,000, while the team that wins the Championship Final Race wins USD $2 million.

F50 Configuration:
All teams use same configuration based on weather forecast. There are four wingsail sizes (18m, 24m, 27.5m, and 29m), six jib sizes, two T-foil daggerboards (high-speed and low-speed), and one set of rudders with high-speed and low-speed settings.

Established in 2018, SailGP seeks to be an annual, global sports league featuring fan-centric inshore racing among national teams in some of the iconic harbors around the globe.