Data Dive: Key stats from halfway point of 2026 SailGP Season
What can we learn from the wealth of data available to SailGP teams at the season’s midway point?
Published 07/17/2026
SailGP’s unofficial mid-season break is almost over – making it a good time to review the first half of the season.
Data in SailGP is democratized, meaning all 13 teams can see what the others are doing in real time. So with eight events down and seven remaining, we delved into the data to see what we could find out…
1. The 100 kph Speed Club
The F50s are being pushed to their absolute limits again in the 2026 Season. Across all official races this year, six teams have broken the 100 kph (62.3mph) threshold.
ROCKWOOL Racing holds the season crown with a blistering top speed of 103.73 kph (64.4mph) but the U.S. SailGP Team isn't far behind. The Crew are firmly in the century club with a registered max speed of 101.41 kph (63mph) set at May’s Mubadala New York Sail Grand, proving their heavy-air, top-end setup can match the absolute best in the fleet.
2. The U.S. SailGP Team's "Low-Speed Pop" Mastery
Getting a 2.4-ton F50 out of the water and fully foiling is a delicate balance of pitch, board rake, and raw speed.
The data reveals that the U.S. SailGP Team has mastered a highly technical "low-speed pop." According to takeoff analytics, the Crew transitions from displacement sailing to fully foiling at an average speed of just 22.7mph (36.6kph).
This is the lowest takeoff threshold of any competitive team in the fleet, with most rivals needing to reach 23.6-24.8mph (38-40 kph) to achieve flight. By getting the hulls dry at lower speeds, the U.S. SailGP Team is proving they can find an escape route out of light-wind holes faster than their competitors.
3. New Zealand's Devastating Downwind Pace
It’s been a tough season for the Black Foils after two collisions in the first two events left them playing catch up – but Peter Burling’s crew are making up for lost time, fast.
When the fleet rounds the top mark, the Black Foils simply turn on the afterburners. Straight-line steady-state telemetry reveals that the Kiwis are averaging a staggering 43.9mph (70.8 kph) in downwind phases – nearly 3.7mph (6 kph) faster than the next best team (France at 40.3).
This pure speed translates directly to the course, giving them a devastating 29.6mph (47.7 kph) downwind Velocity Made Good (VMG) that the rest of the fleet simply hasn't found an answer for yet.
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4. Spain's Masterclass in the Corners
Races are won and lost in the maneuvers, and 2024 Season Champions Los Gallos are giving the rest of the fleet a lesson in gybing efficiency.
Looking at turning telemetry, Spain minimizes their VMG loss to just 248.9 meters per gybe. To put that in perspective, teams at the back of the pack are bleeding nearly 380+ meters of VMG per downwind turn.
By keeping their apex speeds high (averaging a minimum of 22mph (35.5 kph) through the turn), the Spanish are banking free distance on every leg.
5. Sweden's Unshakable Flight
Staying on the foils is the fundamental rule of F50 racing, and the Artemis SailGP Team has been incredibly impressive at keeping the hulls dry.
Across all of their 2026 races, the debutant Swedish crew leads the entire fleet by spending 81.1% of their race time fully foiling, narrowly edging out the defending heavyweights, Australia (80.2%).
It is an incredibly high baseline of stability that has kept them highly competitive in their first season of SailGP. Driver Nathan Outteridge went big in the transfer market – and it looks to be paying off.
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