Eight global events for SailGP’s 2nd season

Aerial view of the fleet racing side by side during practice ahead of the Sydney SailGP, Event 1 Season 2 in Sydney Harbour, Sydney, Australia. 27 February 2020. Photo: David Gray for SailGP. Handout image supplied by SailGP

SailGP has announced the full race schedule for its second season, featuring eight national teams competing in eight events across three continents.

The schedule represents an expansion from five events in the league’s inaugural season (2019), and will kick off in Bermuda in less than 100 days, making stops in a total of seven first-time venues across five countries.

In addition to Bermuda (April 24-25) and previously announced new host cities Taranto (ITA, June 5-6), Plymouth (GBR, July 17-18), Aarhus (DEN, August 20-21), Saint-Tropez (FRA, September 11-12) and Cadiz (ESP, October 9-10), SailGP will also make its first visit to Christchurch for New Zealand’s maiden grand prix on January 29-30, 2022. The season will culminate with the Grand Final in San Francisco on March 26-27, 2022, when the champion will be determined in a single $1 million winner-takes-all final.

SailGP’s second season will feature Tom Slingsby’s reigning champion Australian team, along with crews from Denmark, France, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and the United States. Denmark and Spain will be embarking on their first full SailGP seasons after the 2020 campaign was suspended, while New Zealand will be making its league debut led by Olympic champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. In addition, Sir Ben Ainslie will be racing his first full season at the helm of the British entry, while Jimmy Spithill will be piloting a new-look U.S. team for the first time.

SailGP intends to leverage its global platform to champion a better world powered by nature, with a focus on accelerating a transition to clean energy. As part of its Race for the Future purpose-driven agenda, the league will also begin training female athletes within each of the eight sailing teams. It will also use its community-engagement arm – SailGP Inspire – to introduce youth from diverse backgrounds to the sport and wider marine industry.

SailGP CEO, Sir Russell Coutts says: “There’s rarely been a time in my lifelong sailing career when I’ve been as enthusiastic as I am about our upcoming season. In just over three months, we’ll have the world’s best sailors lining up in equally matched boats for what is shaping up to be some of the sport’s most competitive racing yet. I can’t think of a better way for SailGP to re-emerge, and I believe our fans will be taking notice not only of our thrilling racing, but of the new standards we’ll be setting in running our events in a sustainable and inclusive way.”

In its first season, SailGP had a worldwide broadcast audience of 256 million across five events, and expects to see that number grow significantly with the increase to eight stops. Broadcast partnerships for Season 2 are already in place in more than 100 territories, including Australia (Fox Sports), Denmark (TV 2 Sport), France (Canal+ Sport), Japan (DAZN), New Zealand (Sky Sport), Spain (TVE and TV3), UK/Ireland (SKY Sports) and the U.S. (CBS Sports).

Comments are closed.