SailGP announce first female driver as Martine Grael to lead new Brazilian team

SailGP will welcome its first female driver to the line-up for season five. Photo / Jed Jacobsohn, SailGP

SailGP will welcome its first female driver to the starting box in season five of the global foiling league.

After announcing an expanded fleet for the upcoming campaign, the new Brazilian entry will be led by Martine Grael, a two-time Olympic gold medallist in the 49er FX class, while Rio de Janeiro has been confirmed as a stop on the season schedule.

“It is a new and challenging project, being the first woman to skipper a SailGP boat,” Grael said.

“We will start a new chapter in the competition that brings together the best in the world, at the same time that Rio de Janeiro launches its first stage. It could not be a better moment for our team.”

It’s another milestone for the league, which has invested in providing opportunities for the development of the female athletes involved.

To date, 37 women have raced on board F50s, with most SailGP teams having an active roster of three female athletes alongside their male counterparts. Female athletes have usually raced in the role of strategist, but last year were given the chance to sail different roles on the F50 foiling catamaran when they teamed up in all-female training sessions at several stops.

Speaking after the first of those sessions, in Dubai last December, Black Foils strategist Liv Mackay told the Herald she hoped the sport would one day be a fully integrated space.

“Everyone has a different point of view in terms of the end goal with the women’s pathway and what they would see as success of it,” Mackay told the Herald.

“For me personally, it’s full integration with the top of our sport, not necessarily a full female team as the end success. I think just equal opportunities and equal respect is huge.”

Grael will line up against established league stars such as New Zealand’s Peter Burling and Australia’s Tom Slingsby when the season gets under way in Dubai in November. The 33-year-old will get her first experience behind the wheel of an F50 this month at a training camp for select teams in Bermuda, with the full Brazil team line-up to be unveiled soon.

Kiwi fans won’t have to wait long into the season to get a chance to see the world’s best sailors in action on home waters, either.

Auckland will host the second leg of the campaign in January. Tickets for the event go on sale on September 25 and are expected to be highly sought after, with fans being encouraged to register for pre-sale access at the event’s website.

It will be the first time the City of Sails has hosted the league, after a false start in 2024 saw Christchurch host for a second-straight year.

There will be 11 teams on the water for season five, with another team yet to be named joining the line-up – though it is expected to be an Italian team – and one of the established teams being cut, due to only 11 boats being ready for the start of the season.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.