After a lifetime of Olympic campaigning and high-performance sailing, Martine Grael was ready for something different—and SailGP was waiting.
As a two-time 49erFX Olympic gold medalist, Grael is used to tight starts, high speeds, and sailing at the edge of human and technological performance. But when she stepped into the role of helm for the brand-new Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team, she wasn’t just joining another fleet—she was stepping into a whole new world.
“It was the right time,” she says. “I had just come out of Olympic campaigning, and this was a project I was very happy to take on.”
The US SailGP Team’s event win last weekend in Sydney was more than just a big result. After a bruising Season 5 and months of criticism, the Americans have started Season 6 looking sharper, calmer, and faster around the racecourse. According to the US skipper, there is plenty more yet to come.
If you were ever wondering who is the happiest person in the Grand Prix sail racing world right now, might I suggest France’s Charles Caudrelier – skipper of the newly launched Gitana 18 Ultim trimaran – as a top contender?
Francesca Clapcich & Will Harris’ second place finish in the 2025 Transat Café L’OR is all the more impressive given that it was Clapcich’s first race in charge of the boat she will use in the 2028 Vendée Globe. We checked in with Harris recently to get his take on how the race played out.
Although it’s often Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton’s shoot-from-the-lip soundbites making the headlines, chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge has also been key to the team's many America’s Cup successes. I caught up with him in Naples to get his take on the latest Kiwi campaign.
Two big launches at opposite ends of the world. On top, the 32m Ultim trimaran Gitana 18 headed out from her base in Lorient on the west coast of France for her maiden sail. Down under the Kiwis slipped their dock lines in Auckland to take their newly reconfigured AC75 out for its first sail.
First outings for Gitana Edmond de Rothschild and Emirates Team New Zealand; Podcast: James Pleasance - World Match Racing Tour; Making sense of Grand Prix sailing’s fragmented landscape
Sailing’s Olympic classes, SailGP, the America’s Cup and the Vendée Globe, all showcase our sport at its highest level. But they rarely interconnect. Is sailing missing a chance to dramatically grow its audience by failing to align its biggest competitions?
On the latest episode of the Yacht Racing Life Podcast I'm joined by James Pleasance – executive director of the World Match Racing Tour, as we discuss the history, evolution, and future of one of sailing's most iconic competitions.
