5 Things You Need To Know About The Canada Sail Grand Prix
SailGP heads to Nova Scotia this week – here’s what to expect
Published 06/17/2026
The Americas leg of the 2026 Rolex SailGP Championship concludes in Halifax, Nova Scotia, this weekend with the first Canada Sail Grand Prix since 2024.
Event No.7 of the season brings the curtain down on the second leg of the season before the fleet heads to Europe for the next phase of the calendar.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of this weekend’s action.
1. Black Foils make long-awaited return
The best-possible news to kickstart race week – the Black Foils are back!
Peter Burling’s New Zealand crew has been patiently waiting on the sidelines since the season’s second event in Auckland back in February. Their collision with France had long-reaching implications for both teams but the Kiwis came out worse.
Peter Burling and the New Zealand Black Foils return to the grid in Halifax
Now, after tireless work from the SailGP Tech Team, last season’s Grand Final runners-up are back in the start box and looking to make up for lost time.
2. Welcome to the historic home of foiling
SailGP might be the most technologically advanced class of sailing but it can trace its origins back to Nova Scotia in the 1900s.
Alexander Graham Bell’s most-famous invention was the telephone, but the Scot was a prolific inventor and is a pioneering figure in the world of hydrofoiling.
In 1918, his Hydrodrome 4 vessel changed the game. A five-ton craft that boasted two 350 horsepower engines, the HD-4’s hull was lifted out of the water by two ladder-esque foils.
On September 9, 1919, the HD-4 set a world marine speed record of 70.86 mph at Baddeck Bay, a village in Cape Breton, NS.
3. Canada targeting home heroics
Giles Scott and NorthStar in action at the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix where they finished P3
NorthStar had not been on the podium for 14 long months before finishing P3 in the event Final at last month’s Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix.
Now wing trimmer Paul Campbell-James - who previously served on the U.S. SailGP Team - is targeting even better at the team’s home event.
He said: “Getting into the Final in New York was a massive relief, but if we get into the Final in Halifax and finish third again, we'll be disappointed. We want to put on a better show than that and really fight for the win.”
4. Canada’s secret weapon: tacking perfection
While Canada sits mid-fleet in overall finish positions (averaging 6.39), they are putting on a technical masterclass in their maneuvers.
When an F50 tacks, speed drops dramatically as the bow crosses the wind. Canada currently has the second-lowest speed loss through tacks in the entire fleet.
They lose an average of just 17.1 km/h (9.2 knots) from entry to the slowest point of the turn. This allows them to exit tacks "hotter" and get back up to target speeds faster than almost anyone else, which could be a critical passing weapon on the tight Halifax boundaries.
5. Getting off the line well
The U.S. SailGP Team nails the start in Race 2 of the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix
The U.S. SailGP Team’s F50 is consistently one of the strongest performers at the start gun.
The Crew have been hitting the starting line at an average speed of 26.2mph (4th fastest in the fleet), which allows them to clear the immediate traffic and dictate their own lanes.
Because of this starting execution, the U.S. SailGP Team averages a 5.05 position at Mark 1. In a fleet of 10+ boats, consistently surviving the chaos of Leg 1 in the top half of the fleet is a massive statistical advantage.
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