Here's my alphabetical team-by-team run through of the Season 6 lineup and my best guess assessment of their potential performances over the coming year.
Artemis Racing (SWE)
The new Swedish syndicate are the new kids on the block from a team perspective but Australian skipper Nathan Outteridge is a generational foiling talent who has hand-picked a team brimming with talent and experience.
Outteridge has been involved in SailGP since its inception and has two Moth World Championship titles and 49er Olympic gold and silver medals to his name, to say nothing of an America’s Cup win as helmsman with Emirates Team New Zealand in 2024.
Having been relegated to the periphery of SailGP over recent seasons since the demise of his SailGP Japan outfit, Outteridge lobbied Swedish billionaire businessman and keen yacht racer Torbjörn Törnqvist – for whom he previously steered two America’s Cup campaigns as Artemis Racing – to put up the money for a brand new SailGP syndicate.
With Artemis Technologies CEO and double Olympic gold medallist Iain Percy as CEO, and two powerhouse signings in British wing trimmer Chris Draper from the BONDS Flying Roos, and New Zealand flight controller Andy Maloney from Mubadala Brazil – along with experienced strategist Julia Gross (SWE) (ex-Red Bull-Italy and a graduate from the Swedish Challenge team in the Puig Women’s America’s Cup), and grinders Brad Farrand (NZL) (also from Red Bull Italy), and Julius Hallström (SWE) (previously with the Danish ROCKWOOL Racing) – I can confidently predict a strong start to Season 6 in Perth.
Black Foils (NZL)
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke’s New Zealand SailGP team finished Season 5 with a third place in the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi – a result that many SailGP teams would give their eyeteeth for, but a crushing disappointment for the Kiwi lineup.
Whilst there is no official crew list for the Black Foils for Season 6 at this stage, we are not expecting any major changes, either to the speed loop at the back of the boat – where Burling is backed up by his 49er Olympic triple medal and three-time America’s Cup sailing partner Blair Tuke on wing trim, flight controller Leo Takahashi (NZL) (who has come on leaps and bounds over Season 5), and strategist Liv Mackay (NZL) – or to the powerful grinding team that includes Kiwis Marcus Hansen and Louis Sinclair.
I would expect the Black Foils to come out strong in Season 6 and to benefit from having stayed away from the transfer market and therefore able to field a tight-knit lineup right from the very first event.
BONDS Flying Roos (AUS)
Indisputably the most successful team in SailGP history, Tom Slingsby’s Australian setup has benefitted greatly from maintaining a predominantly consistent lineup over the last five seasons. That said, the Season 5 crew finished second in the Abu Dhabi Grand Final last November, only after an up-and-down season that left them scrabbling to qualify for the end-of-season three-way shootout against the Kiwis and the British.
