SailGP: Nationality rules changed for Season 5 - changes explained covering all teams
by Richard Gladwell & SailGP 2 Nov 2024 12:08 AEDT
2 November 2024
New Zealand Sail GP team - Race Day 2 - SailGP Season 4 Grand Final in San Francisco, USA - July 14, 2024 © Riccardo Pinto / SailGP
With the privately owned teams cherry picking talent from the established, it is clear that the SailGP team rules have been amended since Season 4.
Initially with SailGP there was a strong attempt to have a strong nationalistic look to the League, with only one team being permitted per country, and to carry that nations flag.
With the emergence and expansion of the League that stance is no longer viable with new privately funded national teams entering and trying to come up to speed against teams who have been sailing for several seasons. The situation is complicated by the fact that the SailGP schedule permits only limited practice time in the League serviced F50s - a very difficult situation for a new team trying to catch up.
So to help close the gap between the teams, and make improve competition between all teams the nationality rules have been eased, allowing experienced sailors with the "wrong" passport to be brought into the team. Likewise it also allows established teams to bring in "Top Gun" crew who again may have the "wrong" passport, in an effort to improve team performance.
The new rules are still well short of those which applied for the 2017 America's Cup in Bermuda, sailed in the AC50 wingsailed foiling catamarans which became the forerunner of the one design F50. In Bermuda in 2017 only one member of the crew had to be a passport holder of the nation of the team competing.
The League explains the new nationality rules:
In the upcoming season [Season 5], 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.