The fastest race on water
SailGP is a global sailing championship in which national teams race identical F50 catamarans — foiling boats that lift out of the water and fly at speeds beyond 100 km/h. Founded in 2019, the league was built to make sailing fast, fierce and easy to follow: short races, all boats on the water at once, in stadium-style venues in some of the world’s most iconic coastal cities.
Because every team races exactly the same boat — and all performance data is shared across the fleet — there is nowhere to hide. The difference between winning and losing is pure skill, teamwork and nerve. It’s the reason the championship is often described as Formula 1 on water.
The F50
The F50 is a 15-metre foiling catamaran with a rigid wing instead of a soft sail. From around 28 km/h its hydrofoils lift the hulls clear of the water, all but eliminating drag — which is how these boats routinely sail several times faster than the wind itself. Six athletes crew the boat, each with a precise job:
Driver
Steers the boat and makes the final calls — the F1 driver of the crew.
Strategist
Reads the wind, the course and the fleet, feeding tactics to the driver.
Wing Trimmer
Shapes the rigid wing — the boat’s engine — for every wind change.
Flight Controller
Controls ride height on the foils, keeping the boat flying, not crashing.
Grinder ×2
Generate the hydraulic power that moves the wing and foils. Pure physical output.
In light winds, teams race short-handed — “five up” or “four up” — removing crew to save weight and get the boat foiling sooner. Every kilogram counts when the target is flight.
How it works
Each Grand Prix runs over two days, with a series of short fleet races — typically just 10 to 15 minutes each — in which every team races at the same time on a tight course close to shore. The three highest-scoring teams of the event then meet in a winner-takes-all final.
Points from every event build the season championship. At the end of the season, the top teams face off in the Grand Final — one last race for the title and a multi-million-dollar prize.
Identical boats
Every team races the same F50. No design arms race — the fastest crew wins, not the richest one.
Fleet racing
All boats start together on short courses built for tight, high-speed battles and constant lead changes.
Penalty system
Jumping the start or failing to give way costs you — penalties translate directly into lost metres.
Shared data & the Impact League
All performance data is open across the fleet, and a parallel Impact League rewards teams for sustainability and inclusion off the water.
The boat, up close
The Explora Journeys Swiss F50 — a 15-metre foiling catamaran capable of more than 100 km/h.
And Switzerland?
The Swiss team joined the championship in Season 3 (2023) and has climbed steadily ever since — a first event final in Portsmouth in 2025, a podium in Halifax in 2026, and one of the few crews to have taken an F50 beyond 100 km/h. Since 2026 the team races as the Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team.
And there’s a home race: the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix on Lake Geneva, 19–20 September — the championship framed by the Jet d’Eau and Mont Blanc, in front of a home crowd.