The ETF26 Series takes place every year in Europe, with 5 events held in Spain, France and Italy. Whilst the majority of sailors are full time / professional athletes, the ETF26 also features a number of amateur crew . The ETF26 Series has been structured so that crews of (4) female athletes can and do compete on a level playing field with crews of (3) male athletes. As a result the ETF26 Series has had both mixed gender crews and crews entirely comprising female athletes not only winning races but achieving podium finishes. The class has therefore attracted a number of high-performance female and youth sailing programmes to its ranks, competing successful in the fleet.
The ETF26 Series features crews from all over the world including France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Denmark, Italy & Finland, with many of the sailors / teams having strong affiliations to and sailing with SailGP teams and America’s Cup teams. A number of the athletes represent their countries at international level in other classes, and their number include current Olympic medallists, athletes with multiple Olympic campaigns and World Championship winners and competitors.
The ETF26 foils in breezes from 8 knots and above, at boatspeeds up to 2.5x wind speed. Speeds in excess of 30 knots are commonplace and the fastest recorded speed is 38 knots. The ETF26 currently foils on reaching and downwind legs, but is constantly evolving. In 2023, rudder rake adjustment was introduced on the fleet to lower take-off speeds and further increase stability on the foils. In 2024, re-designed main foils are being trialled with the aim of fleet-wide introduction for the 2025 season and allowing the ETF26 to foil all the way around the racecourse. All flight and sail controls are entirely manual and will remain so, demanding precision and skill from crews.
Courses are typically similar to SailGP style windward-leeward geometries with a mixture of high speed reaching starts and upwind starts, targeting race lengths of circa 20 minutes and 5 races a day, sailed back to back. The ETF26 Series also includes coastal races at each venue – longer courses often amongst or around interesting coastal features and islands.
