Having it both ways for women

Double Olympic gold medalist Martine Grael is the first (and only) female helm in the SailGP league, and as much as she just wants to be viewed as a competitor, her gender is a topic which is why she talks openly about another dilemma she has.

“I’ve never grown up with a feeling of, ‘I want to be a mum’,” the 35-year-old told The Athletic. “But, of course, [for me] the timing is very soon. Girls don’t have a heap of time to make that decision. You could always freeze some eggs, but it is not as easy as you think.

“If I was a guy, I would already have had a kid for sure. But I don’t want to give up on my career. If I have kids right now, I lose everything I have built up to this moment. It’s not like guys, who can take a break of a week, go home, have a kid, and then come back and do exactly the same thing.

“Although, we have examples in the sport, like Hannah Mills [strategist on the British SailGP team and mother of a young daughter], it is still quite hard to expect to be in the same position that you left off [after maternity leave]. I don’t plan on having kids in the next two years.”

SailGP information – Rio details – How to watch

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.