Conditions are looking full on for the first day of racing at the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix on Saturday.
Without any pre-practice sessions scheduled, and a wind direction coming over New York expected to cause some disruption to both wind strength and direction, the Saturday racing is expected to be split into two fleets and the F50s will race with the small 18 metre rigs.
Previously SailGP has been criticized for continuing to race with the full fleet in stronger wind conditions, despite the multihull fleet having grown to 13 teams when all are present.
Following the New Zealand-France collision at the Auckland GP in February, which destroyed the Kiwi boat, the 11 strong fleet was split for the rest of the racing.
A feature of the SailGP race course is the high-speed start to the first turning mark, with considerable advantage to be gained in leading at the turn. The F50 can reach a blistering 55 knots (102 km/h) with an all-time speed record of 56 knots (103.93 km/h) – underlining the intensity of the racing.
If the breeze eases for Sunday’s racing then the 12 teams are expected to race as a single fleet.
SailGP New York Fleet Spilt for Saturday
Group A
ITA Red Bull Italy
BRA Mubadala Brazil
FRA DS Automobiles FRA
AUS Bonds Flying Roos
U.S. SailGP Team
DEN Rockwool Racing
Group B
GBR Emirates GBR
ESP Los Gallos
SWE Artemis
GER Deutsche Bank
CAN NorthStar
SUI Explora Swiss
Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix 30 – 31 May 2026
Race Day/Time:
DAY 1 Saturday 30 MAY 08:30 PM BST
DAY 2 Sunday 31 MAY 08:30 PM BST
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