SailGP: Five things to watch in LA

The 14-event schedule for SailGP arrives in the USA for two stages of Season 5, with it all getting started in Los Angeles on March 15-16. As winter storms hit Southern California this week, here are five things to watch out for when racing gets underway:

One of the tightest racecourses on the 2025 Season calendar
Situated on the Port of Los Angeles, the race course is one of the tightest on the calendar for the 12 teams. Getting ahead of the pack at the start will be more important than ever, with pile ups and congested mark rounding guaranteed when the starting gun fires.

Back-to-back events in the U.S.
Los Angeles on March 15-16 is swiftly followed by San Francisco on March 22-23, marking the first time SailGP has staged back-to-back events on consecutive weekends. Will this quick turnaround keep teams sharp for San Francisco, or could the intensive racing see some take their eye off the ball?

Can Spain repeat its Season 4 triumph in LA?
Last season’s LA debut proved historic, with Diego Botin’s Spain picking up its first ever event win after almost three seasons in the league. The triumph kick started the team’s victorious season; Spain went on to qualify for Finals in both Saint-Tropez and Abu Dhabi before they beat season leaders Australia and New Zealand in Bermuda – a feat they repeated in the San Francisco Championship-defining Grand Final. Could they repeat the feat this season?

Another win for Emirates GBR?
Emirates GBR has been on incredible form since new driver Dylan Fletcher took the reins at the beginning of the season, topping two consecutive podiums in Dubai and Auckland with a win in Sydney. Will Fletcher continue his run of impressive race results to pick up another podium in Los Angeles?

Germany with work to do
After a chaotic Sydney event full of incidents, Erik Heil’s team now sits at the bottom of the overall Championship leaderboard with -6 points. Penalties were also dolled out to the United States and Mubadala Brazil, which sit in 11th and 10th respectively with 0 points, but Germany will be under pressure to climb back up the leaderboard as quickly as possible.

SailGP information – Los Angeles details – Crew list – YouTube – Facebook

Season 5 Leaderboard (after 3 of 14 events)
1. Great Britain, 27 points
2. Australia, 24 points
3. Spain, 20 points
4. New Zealand, 20 points
5. Denmark, 17 points
6. Canada, 15 points
7. France, 15 points*
8. Switzerland, 12 points
9. Italy, 7 points
10. Brazil, 0 point**
11. United States, 0 points**
12. Germany, -6 points**
* France was awarded points for the first two events as their F50 was not available
**Teams are awarded season penalty points for incidents during practice or racing

Season 5 Schedule – 14 events
2024
November 23-24 – Dubai, UAE

2025
January 18-19 – Auckland, New Zealand
February 8-9 – Sydney, Australia
March 15-16 – Los Angeles, USA
March 22-23 – San Francisco, USA
May 3-4 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
June 7-8 – New York City, USA
July 19-20 – Portsmouth, Great Britain
August 16-17 – Sassnitz, Germany
September 6-7 – Taranto, Italy
September 12-13 – Saint-Tropez, France
September 20-21 – Geneva, Switzerland
October 4-5 – Andalucía – Cádiz, Spain
November 7-8 – Middle East *
November 29-30 – Grand Final – Abu Dhabi, UAE
* Venue to be announced

Format for Season 5:
• Teams compete in identical F50 catamarans.
• Each event runs across two days.
• Five 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 prize purse (amount not confirmed; Season 4 had $400,000.00 USD prize purse with winning team 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 a monetary award (amount not confirmed; Season 4 had $2 million USD prize).
• The top team on points ahead of the three-boat Championship Final will get a monetary award (amount not confirmed; Season 4 had a $350,000.00 prize).
• Ten of the 12 teams are privately owned, with the league having ownership of New Zealand and Spain.

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.