SailGP moves on from USA in 2026

The SailGP sports league has revealed 12 events for its forthcoming 2026 season, reflecting a shift away from the USA as the international circuit explores new territory and returns to popular venues.

Missing from the schedule is Los Angeles which in 2024 and 2025 had a small venue in San Pedro with weeds, plus its March dates assured random winter weather. As the busiest seaport in the Western Hemisphere, San Pedro also lacked panache to get big city attention.

Also not included is San Francisco which had been a regular destination from the league’s first season. Considered the top ranked tourism city in the USA, there would be little motivation for the City to pay big hosting fees, plus having an event during the best winds of the summer creates logistical problems.

Rather than move the assets across the continent to California, the North America segment has three eastern events. With made-for-television scenery, Bermuda is too hard to pass on while New York delivers exposure as the media capital of the world. After Halifax attracted record crowds in 2024, the return in 2026 reconnects the league with a country that has one of the leading teams.

“We’re looking forward to our most expansive calendar to date, as we continue to deliver high-intensity racing to fans across the globe,” reports SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts.

The league began 2025 with 14 events, but Rio de Janeiro was cancelled due to wing issues while the removal of an event in the Middle East was not explained.

2026 Schedule:
• Jan 17-18 – Perth, Australia
• Feb 14-15 – Auckland, New Zealand
• Feb 28-March 1 – Sydney, Australia
• Apr 11-12  – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• May 9-10 – Hamilton, Bermuda
• May 30-31 – New York, USA
• June 20-21 – Halifax, Canada
• July TBC – Portsmouth, GBR
• Sep / Oct – Europe (TBC)
• Sept 12-13 – Saint-Tropez, France
• Nov 21-22 – Dubai, UAE
• Nov 28-29 – Abu Dhabi, UAE

SailGP information – YouTube – Facebook

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.

Source: SailGP