Lake Geneva will host a genuine first this weekend: Martine Grael and Anna Weis are set to become the first two women to race together on the same F50. It is a landmark for SailGP, arriving amid one of the strangest weeks the league has seen.
Grael's return is sudden. She left the Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team only days ago, and now finds herself back on the startline, this time in different colours.
The two-time Olympic champion will drive for the U.S. SailGP Team at the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix. Taylor Canfield and reserve Harry Melges have both been ruled out through injury, leaving the Americans needing a driver fast. For now, Grael's appointment covers Geneva only.
It's a neat symmetry. Grael became SailGP's first female driver when she joined Brazil ahead of the 2025 Season. Now she lines up alongside Weis, who has been part of the U.S. crew since 2022.
Weis didn't quite believe it at first.
"When we found out about Harry, I thought it was April Fool's, to be honest," she said. "But with everything that transpired, we thought the obvious choice was Martine to bring her in. She has the experience, she's an incredible sailor and an incredible athlete, so we're really, really excited to be racing with her."
She added: "It'll actually be the first time that two women will be racing on an F50, so it's a really exciting and historic time."
The moment builds on ground SailGP has been shifting since 2021, when the league introduced a mandatory female crew position. Grael and Weis have been at the heart of that shift ever since.
Weis is SailGP's only female grinder, a role that's typically gone to male athletes given the sheer physicality involved. Grael, for her part, was the first woman to drive an F50 and the first female driver to win a SailGP fleet race, a milestone she reached with Brazil in New York last season.
Her exit from Brazil earlier in the week briefly left SailGP without a female driver at all. Paul Goodison has since taken over as Brazil's driver, with two-time Olympic champion Kahena Kunze returning as strategist for the final three events of the season.
Instead, Grael is back, in an even bigger role than before. She joins a U.S. team fighting for a place in the 2026 Season Grand Final, fresh off a win in Valencia at the previous event.
For Weis, though, this weekend isn't just about the points table.
"Right now, we're really just focused on Geneva and racing this weekend," she said. "Ultimately, the goal is to be in a position to race the Grand Final, but we're going to take it race by race and see what we can do here."
A week ago, Grael's SailGP future looked uncertain. This weekend, on Lake Geneva, she and Weis will make history together.
