SailGP: Who’s racing in Portsmouth?

The world’s fastest sailors are heading to Portsmouth for the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix, the seventh stop of the 2026 Rolex SailGP Championship. While football is no longer coming home, sports fans can look forward to sailing’s homecoming at the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Portsmouth on July 25-26.

England’s south coast will welcome 13 national teams to its shores, who will all compete in identical 50ft foiling catamarans which hit speeds of over 100km/h. It’s a crucially important event for the home team, who currently sit third on the 2026 Season leaderboard, behind Spain’s Los Gallos in second and Australia’s Bonds Flying Roos in first.

With days left to go until the adrenaline-fueled racing returns to Southsea Common, the Emirates GBR SailGP Team has landed in Portsmouth and marked its arrival by abseiling one of the city’s most prominent landmarks, the Spinnaker Tower. Emirates GBR wing trimmer Stuart Bithell MBE and development sailor Kai Hockley took on the challenge of abseiling the 170-metre tower, and following the experience the pair both stated they preferred being on-board the Emirates GBR F50 race boat travelling at speeds of over 100km/h.

Speaking as he landed back on solid ground, Bithell said, “That was wild! It was pretty windy up there, but it was cool, scary, but cool. I’d much rather take being on an F50 at 100km/h than doing that again. Hopefully we get a breeze like that next weekend when we’re racing—just preferably out on the water rather than halfway down a building.” Hockley said, “It was good that Stu went first to make sure the ropes were all good. It wasn’t the most enjoyable experience but I’m glad I did it.”

Before Bithell and Hockley took on the abseiling challenge, the pair faced their teammates in a race that was much slower than the speeds they’re used to, but with just as much rivalry. The MiniGP took place in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and featured the team competing against each other in pairs, with Bithell and Hockley one pair, driver Dylan Fletcher MBE and strategist Hannah Mills OBE another and finally CEO Sir Ben Ainslie teamed up with SailGP Presenter Alex Hobern.

While it was only pride up for grabs for the winners, the competition was fierce, and after foul play, near-capsizes and collisions, Fletcher and Mills were crowned champions. Fletcher said, “It’s really important to have some banter and a bit of teamwork with some great racing at the MiniGP. It was nice and spicy and I think it’s good to have some fun as a team.”

Switching his attention to the main event, the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Portsmouth, Fletcher said, “The pressure feels like it’s mounting on our shoulders coming into our home event, but we love that and that’s what we’re here for. Pressure is a privilege and we’re looking forward to getting off that start line and seeing the crowd in the even bigger grandstand than last year, it’s going to be wild.”

Last year’s event in Portsmouth saw 20,000 spectators attend across the weekend, and although the Emirates GBR team was pipped to the win by New Zealand’s Black Foils, the event marked a turning point for the team which saw them then win in Saint-Tropez and Cadiz before they took home the 2025 Season Championship trophy in Abu Dhabi in November.

Emirates GBR CEO Sir Ben Ainslie said last year’s Portsmouth event was “quite a transitional moment” for the team. “This season for Emirates GBR has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride to be honest,” he said. “We’ve had some fantastic wins, we’ve had a last place, and trying to find that consistency has been a challenge for the team. But last season, we came out really on fire and then mid-season we were struggling a little bit and Portsmouth was quite a transitional moment for our season, so we’re hoping for more of the same this season.”

Emirates GBR strategist Hannah Mills OBE echoed that sentiment. “We’re really conscious that it’s a home event and there’s a lot of pressure,” she said. “We want to do well and being able to do that puts us in such a strong place for the rest of the season to make that grand finale. We know that we can deliver under the biggest of pressures so we’re all buzzing to get out in front of the home crowd and put on a great show.”

Crew Lists

Artemis SailGP Team
Driver: Nathan Outteridge
Wing trimmer: Chris Draper
Flight controller: Andy Maloney
Grinder: Brad Farrand
Grinder: Julias Hallstrom
Strategist: Julia Gross
Reserve: Hugo Christensson
Reserve: Dave Gilmour
Reserve: Felicia Fernstrom
Coach: Sam Meech
Assistant coach: Freddy Bergstrom
Data analyst: Saul Vassalo

Black Foils
Driver: Peter Burling
Wing trimmer: Blair Tuke
Flight controller: Leo Takahashi
Grinder: Marcus Hansen
Grinder: Stuart Dodson
Strategist: Liv Mackay
Reserve: Finn Henry
Head coach: Matt Stevens
Coach booth operator: William McKenzie

BONDS Flying Roos
Driver: Tom Slingsby
Wing trimmer: Iain Jensen
Flight controller: Jason Waterhouse
Grinder: Sam Newton
Grinder: Kinley Fowler
Reserve: Thomas Needham
Strategist: Tash Bryant
Coach: Ben Durham
Coach: Hugo Stubler

DS Automobiles SailGP Team France
Driver: Quentin Delapierre
Wing trimmer: Enzo Balanger
Flight controller: Jason Saunders
Grinder: Timothé Lapauw
Grinder: Bruno Mourniac
Grinder: Olivier Herledant
Strategist: Manon Audinet
Reserve strategist: Margaux Billy * (replaces Amelie Riou)
Data analyst: Lucas Delcourt
Coach: Philippe Mourniac

Emirates GBR
Driver: Dylan Fletcher
Wing trimmer: Stuart Bithell
Flight controller: Luke Parkinson
Grinder: Nick Hutton
Grinder: Neil Hunter
Strategist: Hannah Mills
Data analyst: Nick Robins
Data analyst: Ben Cornish
Coach: Robbie Wilson

Germany by Deutsche Bank
Driver: Erik Kosegarten-Heil
Wing trimmer: Kevin Peponnet
Flight controller: James Wierzbowski
Grinder: Linov Scheel
Grinder: William Tiller
Strategist: Anna Barth
Reserve: Victoria Schultheis
Reserve: Felix van den Hoevel
Coach: Lennart Briesenick
Coach: Jacopo Plazzi

Los Gallos
Driver: Diego Botin
Wing trimmer: Florian Trittel
Flight controller: Joel Rodríguez
Grinder: Joan Cardona
Grinder: Bernardo Freitas
Strategist: Nicole van der Velden
Reserve grinder: Andreas Barrio
Reserve strategist: Victoria Travascio
Coach: Simone Salvà
Coach: Hamish Willcox

Mubadala Brazil
Driver: Martine Grael * (replaces Paul Goodison)
Wing trimmer: Pietro Sibello
Flight controller: Rasmus Køstner
Grinder: Marco Grael
Grinder: Mateus Isaac
Strategist: Paul Goodison * (replaces Martine Grael)
Reserve athlete: Breno Kneipp
Reserve flight controller / coach: Richard Mason
Reserve strategist: Marina Arndt
Coach: Jeremy Wilmot

NorthStar
Driver: Giles Scott
Wing trimmer: Paul Campbell-James
Flight controller: Billy Gooderham
Grinder: Tim Hornsby
Grinder: Alex Sinclair
Strategist: Annie Haeger
Reserve athlete: Nicholas Rolaz
Reserve athlete: Ali Ten Hove
Coach: Joe Glanfield

Red Bull Italy
Driver: Phil Robertson
Wing trimmer: Kyle Langford
Flight controller: Andrea Tersei
Grinder: Mattep Celon * (replaces Enrico Voltolini)
Grinder: Will Ryan
Strategist: Jana Germani
Reserve athlete: Maelle Frascari *
Head coach: Tom Burnham
Data analyst: Ben Rosenberg *

ROCKWOOL Racing
Driver: Nicolai Sehested
Wing trimmer: Tom Johnson
Flight controller: Ed Powys
Grinder: Hans Christian Rosendahl
Grinder: Luke Payne * (replaces Marcus Hansen)
Strategist: Kahena Kunze
Reserve athlete: Pearl Lattanzi
Reserve athlete / coach: Magnus Overbeck
Coach: Victor Paya
Data analyst: Fabien Cockenpot *

Explora Swiss
Driver: Sébastien Schneiter
Wing trimmer: Arnaud Psarofaghis
Flight controller: Bryan Mettraux
Grinder: Matt Gotrel
Grinder: Arno de Planta
Strategist: Maud Jayet
Reserve athlete: Nils Theuninck *
Coach: Javi Torres
Coach: Bernie Cortes

United States
Driver: Taylor Canfield
Wing trimmer: Michael Menninger
Flight controller: Hans Henken
Grinder: Anna Weis
Grinder: Mac Agnese
Strategist: Andrew Campbell
Reserve: Peter Kinney
Reserve: Harry Melges
Reserve: Louisa Nordstrom
Coach: Marcus Lynch
Data analyst: Ivan Bulaja

* denotes change from previous event

The Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix takes place in Portsmouth on July 25-26, 2026.

SailGP information

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