Podcast Ep. 1 - What happened in SailGP Season 5?

10th January 2026 9:55am

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Eight different event winners. Twelve teams separated by margins that would have been unthinkable two seasons ago. The SailGP fleet is levelling up, and the stats are there to prove it.

In The Foil's first ever podcast, Neil Cole sits down with Freddie Carr and Andy Rice for a deep-dive into a season where the old certainties no longer applied. Australia – dominant force of seasons one through three – managed just a single event win. Spain, the defending champions, faded when it mattered most. And a British team that looked lost during their American swing somehow transformed into worthy champions.

Over the course of an hour we break down what set Season 5 apart, from T-foils that levelled the playing field to the incidents that defined weekends. We examine the stats behind Emirates GBR’s title, debate whether the three-boat final format actually delivers the best racing, and ask some pointed questions about venues that worked – and the ones that were, in Freddie's words, 'a bit of a snore-fest'.

00:01:55 Was SailGP Season 5 the best yet?
00:11:47 Analysing the Grand Final tactics
00:16:21 The race-winning JK manoeuvre
00:19:56 Breaking down speed and overtaking stats
00:26:06 Major crashes and incidents of the season
00:35:25 Performance reviews for New Zealand and Australia
00:50:01 The struggles of the Italian team
00:54:47 Martine Grael and female drivers in SailGP