Will SailGP prove investors right?

When America’s Cup champion Jimmy Spithill got removed from helming the US SailGP Team during Season 4, he vowed to launch his own team for Italy. That happened at the start of Season 5, with Spithill as a part owner along with a consortium led by a Italian venture capitalist Assia Grazioli-Venier. But valued at $45 million, that’s a lot of pasta.

“I have a knack for spotting things early when people think I’m crazy,” she said, though admitted her first instinct regarding the SailGP league was not enthusiastic. “It’s a premium sport, America’s Cup is every four years, it’s a billionaire’s playground-and I’m a businesswoman.”

However, her father was a sailor, participating in the first Whitbread Round the World Race, so she agreed to take a peek. “As I started looking under the hood, I realized this is an extraordinary commercial opportunity, to the point it’s probably one of the most attractive commercially sustainable businesses and sports that I’ve ever come across.

“The addressable market is large and untapped … And you’re seeing the boom of sports, both established and emerging. Not all of them are created equal. Not all of them have the same opportunities for growth that this one has,” Grazioli-Venier said. “We’re always investing just before we know something’s going to hit the zeitgeist.” – Full report

SailGP information – New York event – YouTube – Facebook

Season 5 Leaderboard (after 4 events)
1. Australia – Tom Slingsby, 39 points
2. Great Britain – Dylan Fletcher, 38 points
3. Spain – Diego Botin, 36 points
4. New Zealand – Peter Burling, 35 points
5. Canada – Giles Scott, 34 points
6. France – Quintin Delapierre, 28 points*
7. Switzerland – Sebastien Schneiter, 18 points
8. Italy – Ruggero Tita, 13 points
9. Denmark – Nicolai Sehested, 9 points**
10. Brazil – Martine Grael, 2 point**
11. United States – Taylor Canfield, 2 points**
12. Germany – Erik Heil, -1 points**
* France was awarded points for the first two events as their F50 was not available
**Teams receive 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
* The season began with 14 events but Tranto was replaced with Saint-Tropez, while Rio and Middle East were cancelled though Rio may be rescheduled.

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.