Martine Grael, SailGP’s first female driver, posted on social media on Friday that she was “officially unemployed”.
Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team issued a statement shortly after the social media post, confirming Grael had departed the team, and that strategist Paul Goodison would move into the driver role.
Marina Arndt, until now the team’s reserve strategist, will move to the strategist role.
Mubadala Brazil joined SailGP at the start of the 2025 Season as the first South American team in the league. Grael won her first race in New York last season, but the team have struggled to rediscover that form since, and currently sit 13th on the 2026 Season leaderboard.
It has been clear for some time that the Brazil Team lacked pace and handling confidence, and following a collision in the New York SailGP event in May involving Brazil, Italy and the USA, for the Halifax, Canada, event Grael switched places with the team’s strategist Paul Goodison (GBR), but then returned to the helm for the next three events.
The recent SailGP Valencia Grand Prix seems to have been the final straw for Grael.
Yet another event without a point scored and sitting firmly last on the Season Leaderboard with just 8 pts . . . Grael took the decision into her own hands with the social media post on Friday. The implication is that she resigned.
The next SaiGP event is Geneva, Switzerland, 19-20 September, before they head to the Middle East for the Dubai and Abu Dhabi events and the Grand Final in November, if the war zone is considered safe enough for the Middle East events to take place.
The Mubadala Brazil statement said:
The Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team will have a new line-up for the final three events of the season. The change in the team had already been professionally and strategically planned for this stage of the season, as part of the natural process of evaluation and evolution of a high-performance team. As always, we have a plan in place and a team prepared to manage these adjustments in the best possible way.
Paul Goodison will take the helm of the F50, while Marina Arndt will move into the strategist position. Both are experienced and highly qualified professionals who are already part of our structure and give us confidence to remain competitive through the final two events of the season.
As Martine Grael shared on her social media channels, the sailor has decided not to complete the 2026 season with the team.
Martine has been with us since the creation of the project and played an important role in this journey, contributing to the team’s development and growth over the past two years. We thank her for the partnership and for all the work we have carried out together.
At this time, our focus is on preparing for the final stages of the season. Further information regarding our next steps and plans for 2027 will be shared in due course.
Statement Ends.
