SailGP: Five things to watch in Portsmouth

The SailGP global league begins its European segment on July 25-26 in Portsmouth, GBR. As the eighth event of Season Six, here are five storylines to follow:

Championship battle intensifies
Australia’s Bonds Flying Roos arrive in Portsmouth well clear at the top of the season standings, but behind them the picture is tighter: Emirates Great Britain and Spain’s Los Gallos go into the event locked on equal points, both chasing the runner-up spot on the road to Abu Dhabi. Home advantage and a huge Southsea crowd give Dylan Fletcher’s crew every incentive to find the pace that’s been missing in recent events, while Diego Botín’s Los Gallos will be looking to keep their season building.

Martine Grael back in driving seat
Mubadala Brazil return to Portsmouth with a reshuffled crew: Martine Grael returns to the driver’s seat, swapping roles back with Paul Goodison, who takes up strategist duties. It’s a switch-back rather than a debut – Grael and Goodison swapped positions in Halifax as part of a performance review – but it puts SailGP’s first female driver back behind the wheel for the European opener, with Brazil still searching for their maiden race win of 2026.

Group racing in Portsmouth… and beyond?
With the fleet now at a record 13 teams and more looking to join, SailGP has experimented with group racing – dividing the teams into two heats that race separately before points combine – as a way of preserving close, high-quality racing. The format made its debut in Auckland and has been trialed at several Grands Prix this season. Expect Portsmouth’s tight Solent course to make use of the format again, with more of the same expected through the rest of the season.

The groups for Portsmouth will be:
Group A: ESP, AUS, NZL, CAN, ITA, DEN, BRA
Group B: SWE, SUI, USA, GER, FRA, GBR

France getting whole
Currently sixth in the championship standings, DS Automobiles SailGP Team France is rejoined by British wing trimmer Leigh McMillan who needed several months of rehabilitation following the team’s Auckland incident. McMillan will use the event to reconnect with the team while Enzo Balanger retains the wing trimmer role for this event.

New rules, New approach
The update to the F50 Class Rule mandates that two crew members must always be stationed at the rear of the boat, and how the crew member trimming the wing shall not be one of them. When combined with how a female athlete must always be on board regardless of crew size, it led the USA team to rethink their approach with grinder Anna Weis. With a reduced crew size, they had moved her to the strategist role but now have Louisa Nordstrom as a reserve who just missed selection as 470 helm for Paris 2024.

Crew list: https://sailgp.com/news/26/revealed-full-crew-lists-emirates-great-britain-sail-grand-prix-portsmouth/

SailGP information – Portsmouth details – How to watch

Season 6 Results (after 7 of 13 events)
1. Australia, Tom Slingsby (AUS), 2-1-5-1-1-1-4, 62 points
2. Spain, Diego Botin (ESP), 12-3-3-2-2-12-1, 44
3. Great Britain, Dylan Fletcher (GBR), 1-2-2-12-4-2-11, 44
4. United States, Taylor Canfield (USA), 5-7-1-4-7-6-6, 41
5. Sweden, Nathan Outteridge (AUS), 4-5-9-3-11-5-2, 38
6. France, Quentin Delapierre (FRA), 3-4*-13-8-9-4-10, 33
7. Germany, Erik Heil (GER), 9-6-8-6-3-11-7, 27
8. Canada, Giles Scott (CAN/GBR), 6-10-11-10-6-3-8, 23
9. Italy, Phil Robertson (NZL), 7-13-4-7-8-9-9, 22
10. Denmark, Nicolai Sehested (DEN), 8-9-6-5-7-12, 22
11. Switzerland, Sébastien Schneiter (SUI), 11-12-10-11-5-8-3, 18
12. New Zealand, Peter Burling (NZL), 13-8-12-13-13-13-5, 8
13. Brazil, Martine Grael/Paul Goodison (BRA/GBR), 10-11-7-9-12-10-13, 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.
• All teams compete in up to seven qualifying fleet races of approximately 15 minutes.
• The top three teams from qualifying advance to a 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 teams are privately owned except for New Zealand which is owned by the league.

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.

Source: SailGP