Why the US SailGP Team is struggling

The Athletic, the sports arm of the New York Times, has taken an interest in SailGP, with sailing journalist Andy Rice doing his best to explain the sport to a non-sailing audience. Here’s an excerpt from a story about the US SailGP Team:

“Lately, it’s felt like the world’s kind of coming down on us for our mistake in Sydney,” Taylor Canfield, the team’s driver and de facto leader, referring to that capsize, tells The Athletic.

“There’s just going to be haters in everything you do. It’s hard when you know your fellow countrymen don’t believe in you.”

But why is this all-American team of highly accomplished sailors, generously funded with Tommy Hilfiger on board, struggling? Three events into Season 5 of SailGP, and the US is 11th in the 12-fleet championship with no points. – Full report

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.