Abstract: Based on experimental measurement and numerical calculation, the hydrodynamic characteristics were studied for a 6-DOF Laser Radial class sailboat in this paper. Firstly, a set of six element force test measurement method was designed, and the hydrodynamic characteristics of the sailboat were obtained through the pool towing test. And then, the Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes calculation method and the overlapping grid technique were used in numerical method. And the accuracy of the numerical method was verified by comparing the experimental results with numerical results. Finally, the hydrodynamic performance of the sailboat under different sailing attitude were simulated, and the influence law of four factors including ship speed, pitch angle, heel angle and drift angle on the sailboat's six-element hydrodynamic performance was analyzed. The results show that ship speed and the pitch angle are the most significant influencing factors on the longitudinal force, expressing as a quadratic nonlinear relationship between the longitudinal force and the ship speed. The drift angle has a great influence on the lateral force, expressing as a linear relationship between them. Roll moment is mainly affected by heel angle and drift angle, decreasing first and then increasing with the increase of heel angle. The turning point occurs when heel angle is about 15°. Pitch moment is greatly affected by ship speed and pitch angle, and increases linearly with the increase of pitch angle. Yaw moment is the most responsive to drift angle, increasing linearly with the increase of drift angle. The six-element hydrodynamic characteristics and data obtained in this paper can provide significant data support for improving the maneuverability of sailboats.