In the upcoming season, 12 national teams will compete throughout SailGP’s most expansive calendar yet. But what are SailGP’s nationality rules and how have they changed for the 2025 Season?
The updated nationality rules this season call for at least three nationals to be on board in a six person crew. This rule fluctuates according to how many athletes are racing on board at one time.
It drops down to two nationals in a five person crew, two nationals in a four person crew and one national in a three person crew.
The new rules are applied equally to all SailGP teams, regardless of how long they’ve been racing in the league.
It comes after a series of tweaks to the rules over previous seasons. Previously, SailGP’s nationality rules split teams into ‘developed’ and ‘non developed’ sailing nations, stipulating stricter national crew requirements for ‘developed’ countries and more relaxed rules for ‘non developed’. This changed at the beginning of Season 4, bringing all countries onto the same level regarding national requirements.
In Season 4, teams racing in their first and second seasons were permitted a total of 3 non nationals, but this dropped down to 2 non nationals once a team progressed into its third season. Teams in their fourth season meanwhile were only allowed one non-national on board.
The new rules look to have influenced the confirmed crew line-ups of the upcoming season. Brazil for example has unveiled a crew of three nationals and three non-nationals.
Driver Martine Grael and grinders Marco Grael and Mateus Isaac are all Brazilian nationals, while flight controller Andy Maloney is from New Zealand, and wing trimmer Leigh McMillan and strategist Richard Mason are both from the United Kingdom. The latter three make up the team's non-national quota.
