SailGP shifts to the Swiss alps

The SailGP league has moved from the glamorous Mediterranean resort town of Saint-Tropez to the land of Rolex watches and luxury goods, with the 12 teams to now race September 20-21 amid the stunning natural beauty of Geneva, Switzerland.

The six-hour drive to the Swiss alps takes the fleet to Lake Geneva for the second fresh water venue in league history. Water density will be a topic as the boats have changed since Chicago in 2022 and 2023, and as it’s a notoriously light air venue, the league’s big sail plan and new light air foils could be in use.

With three events remaining in Season 5 to advance the top three teams to the Final, the points are close with New Zealand, Great Britain, Australia, and 2024 champion Spain. While Canada is stuck mid-fleet, USA is hoping their new crew configuration with Michael Menninger and Andrew Campbell can get them out of the cellar. Racing takes place at 3:30pm to 5:00pm CEST (9:30am to 11:00am EDT).

UPDATE: Due to a changing weather forecast and the threat of lightning, racing will now begin at 2:00pm CEST

SailGP information – Geneva event – YouTube

Season 5 Leaderboard (after 9 events)
1. New Zealand – Peter Burling, 70 points
2. Great Britain – Dylan Fletcher, 68 points
3. Australia – Tom Slingsby, 67 points
4. Spain – Diego Botin, 64 points
5. France – Quintin Delapierre, 52 points*
6. Canada – Giles Scott, 45 points
7. Switzerland – Sebastien Schneiter, 30 points
8. Denmark – Nicolai Sehested, 26 points**
9. Italy – Ruggero Tita, 22 points
10. Brazil – Martine Grael, 14 points**
11. Germany – Erik Heil, 13 points**
12. United States – Taylor Canfield, -8 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.

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).
• The league still owns the New Zealand and Spain teams and are looking at how they can bring new investment into them.

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.