SailGP: Five things to watch in San Francisco

The 13-event schedule for SailGP Season 4 concludes July 13-14 in San Francisco, USA.  It will be the final racing for the 10-boat fleet, with the top three teams in the season standing advancing to one last race in which the winner claims the overall season title and the $2 million USD prize. Here are five things to watch for when racing gets underway:

Spain vs France in fleet racing
It’s a congested top half of the leaderboard, with just five points separating Spain in third place and France in fourth. This means there’s everything to play for when fleet racing begins, with France gunning to beat Spain and steal their spot in the Grand Final. Can Spain hold the French off? Or will Quentin Delapierre’s squad swoop in and claim fleet racing victory?

Will New Zealand convert stellar season into Championship title?
It’s been an incredible season for Peter Burling’s New Zealand, which is the only team so far qualified for the winner-takes-all, $2 million Grand Final. But the Kiwis came so close to winning the Season 3 title, losing out to fierce rivals Australia in the final seconds of the race. Will they choke again, or can they hold on to claim the ultimate victory?

Can the Australians battle back to claim a 4th Championship title
Triple champions Australia meanwhile have had an uncharacteristically lukewarm season, with only one event win despite being in eight Finals. But driver Tom Slingsby has reemphasized that the Aussies have ‘never been beaten in San Francisco’. Will this remain true in Season 4’s showdown?

Will other teams play spoiler?
According to the points, it’s mathematically probable that two teams out of Australia, France, and Spain will join New Zealand in the Grand Final showdown. But points are tight – with Canada and Emirates GBR just four behind France. Could stellar performances from these teams, combined with poor performances from others, completely reshuffle the leaderboard when racing gets underway?

Who will come at the bottom of the fleet?
It’s been another tough season for Switzerland, and a steep learning curve for Germany in their debut season. With just two points separating Switzerland in 10th and Germany in 9th, there’s all to play for to avoid being the team at the bottom of the fleet.

SailGP’s Season 4 Grand Final in San Francisco takes place July 13-14, with racing from 2.30 pm PDT.

SailGP information – San Francisco details– YouTube – How to watch

Season 4 Standings (after 12 of 13 events; results and total points)
1. New Zealand (Peter Burling), 1-7-8-DNC/6-4-1-1-3-1-2-5-1; 93 points
2. Australia (Tom Slingsby), 2-3-2-2-3-2-7-1-10-3-7-4; 78
3. Spain (Diego Botin), 5-1-3-6-6-10-2-5-4-1-4-7; 76
4. France (Quintin Delapierre), 6-8-6-4-7-4-4-4-2-9-2-5; 71
5. Canada (Phil Robertson), 3-4-10-5-5-3-6-10-3-4-6-2; 67
6. Denmark (Nicolai Sehested), 4-2-4-7-2-6-9-2-9-5-3-8; 67
7. Great Britain (Ben Ainslie/Giles Scott), 7-6-1-1-8-5-8-7-7-8-1-3; 66
8. United States (Jimmy Spithill/Taylor Canfield), 9-5-5-3-1-8-3-9-8-10-10-10; 51
9. Germany (Erik Heil), 10-10-7-8-9-10-9-5-6-5-6-8-9; 35
10. Switzerland (Sebastien Schneiter/Nathan Outteridge), 8-9-9-9-7-10-8-6-7-9-6; 33

For scoring adjustments, click here.

Season 4 – 2023
June 16-17 – United States Sail Grand Prix | Chicago at Navy Pier
July 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | Los Angeles
September 9-10 – France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez
September 23-24 – Italy Sail Grand Prix | Taranto
October 14-15 – Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía- Cádiz
December 9-10 – Dubai Sail Grand Prix | Dubai*

Season 4 – 2024
January 13-14 – Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix | Abu Dhabi
February 24-25 – Australia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney
March 23-24 – New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland
March 23-24 – New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Christchurch
May 4-5 – Bermuda Sail Grand Prix
June 1-2 – Canada Sail Grand Prix | Halifax
June 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | New York
July 13-14 – SailGP Season 4 Grand Final | San Francisco
* Added October 3, 2023

Format for Season 4:
• Teams compete in identical F50 catamarans.
• Each event runs across two days.
• Up to seven qualifying fleet races of approximately 15 minutes may be scheduled for each regatta.
• The top three teams from qualifying advance to a final race to be crowned event champion and earn the largest share of the $300,000.00 USD event prize money purse (increases to $400k for Abu Dhabi with the winning team now earning $200k at each event).
• The season ends with the Grand Final, which includes the Championship Final Race for the top three teams in the season standing with the winner claiming the $2 million USD prize.
• The top team on points ahead of the three-boat Championship Final will be awarded $350,000.00.

For competition documents, click here.

Established in 2018, SailGP seeks to be an annual, global sports league featuring fan-centric inshore racing among national teams in some of the iconic harbors around the globe.

Source: SailGP