Rio Sail Grand Prix
The most exciting racing on water will take center stage this weekend as the Rolex SailGP Championship makes its long-awaited South American debut. The Enel Rio Sail Grand Prix begins tomorrow (Saturday April 11) as the best athletes in the sport face off on Guanabara Bay, with Sugarloaf Mountain, Christ the Redeemer and Copacabana as their backdrop.
More than 8,000 fans are expected to witness history across the weekend, seated at the heart of the action, just meters from the shore.
It marks the first time the Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team will compete on home waters, led by double Olympic gold medallist and SailGP’s first female driver Martine Grael. The moment carries deep personal significance, as she races alongside her brother and teammate, Marco Grael, in the city where they grew up sailing.
“Sailing in Rio is very special for many reasons,” said Martine Grael. “This bay is a spectacular place to sail, and being here in front of friends and family makes it even more special. That is what it means to sail at home.”
Martine won Olympic gold in Rio a decade ago, but conceded, “Local knowledge only goes so far here. There are no fewer than 14 Olympic medallists in Rio this weekend, so it will really come down to whoever can look up, read the course and understand what the wind is saying.”
Her former teammate – and now competitor – Kahena Kunze, strategist for the ROCKWOOL Racing SailGP Team, reflected on her Rio return: “Of course, it is very special to come back to Rio and compete for another team in a different boat. Now it is a much faster boat and the tactics change completely. You get butterflies. It’s a very challenging boat and the speeds are enormous, but that is part of it. If you do not feel it in your stomach, you are not competitive.”
DS Automobiles SailGP Team France will return to the startline in Rio following a crash with New Zealand’s Black Foils at the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix in February. Significant damage meant driver Quentin Delapierre and the team were forced to miss last month’s Sydney event, triggering a race against time for the SailGP Tech team to get them back on the start line.
Confirming crew changes to the French team lineup this weekend, Delapierre said, “Both Manon [Audient] and Leigh [McMillian] are still recovering, so we’ve brought in [Black Foils] Liv Mackay and [sailing veteran] Glenn Ashby, two superstars with huge experience, so we’re very happy to have them on board.
“We’re super excited to be back racing in Rio and can’t wait to get on the start line. Of course, it would have been easier to return to a more stable venue with consistent wind and pressure, but Rio is a beautiful place to race.”
Competition is at an all-time high with the DS Team France level on 20 points with the U.S SailGP Team, who sit in third place on the 2026 Season overall leaderboard behind Dylan Fletcher’s Emirates Great Britain and Tom Slingsby’s BONDS Flying Roos .
The all-American team is fresh off an event win in Sydney last month – their first win as the rebranded team under the leadership of driver Taylor Canfield.
He said: “We’re really excited about the win in Sydney. To do it in such an amazing venue, where the first-ever SailGP event took place, was really special for the team. We’ve made great progress as a group, but we know there is still a lot more to come. That is the biggest thing in this league right now, everyone is good. The teams willing to keep pushing and improving throughout the season are the ones that will end up on the podium.”
Los Gallos SailGP Team, driven by Diego Botín, enter Rio in fifth place overall and firmly within striking distance. This weekend will mark the team’s first time racing under new ownership, as it was announced earlier this week that the team has been acquired by long-term investor in sports, the Quantum Pacific Group – joining an impressive portfolio of strategic investments across global sport, including football teams Atlético de Madrid, F.C. Famalicão, and cycling team Movistar Team.
Official racing at the Enel Rio Sail Grand Prix will get underway tomorrow, Saturday, April 11 at 3 p.m. local time. Weekend tickets are nearly sold out; visit SailGP.com/Rio to secure yours. For updates on where to watch from around the world, visit SailGP.com/howtowatch
