The SailGP Global League will make its debut in Los Angeles and return to New York during its fourth season, which will feature 12 regattas across four continents.
The expanded schedule announced Wednesday includes four regattas across the United States, beginning with the season opener off Chicago’s Navy Pier on June 16-17. It follows SailGP’s first visit to Los Angeles on July 22-23, where sailing will take place in souped-up 50ft foiling catamarans in the steady breeze of Los Angeles Outer Harbor. The Outer Harbor is near Long Beach, where sailing for the 1984 Olympics was held and will also be for the 2028 Games.
Season 4 concludes with regattas in New York on June 22-23, 2024 and the grand finale in San Francisco on July 13-14, 2024.
There is one more regatta in Season 3 scheduled for May 6-7 in San Francisco. Two-time defending champions Team Australia, led by Tom Slingsby, have almost secured a spot in the $1million Grand Final as New Zealand, France and Britain chase the other two spots.
The nine teams, including many Olympic, current and former America’s Cup winners, have a mere six-week break before Season 4 kicks off in Chicago.
“You only have to look at our recent broadcast numbers to see the level of interest in SailGP across the United States,” said Jimmy Spithill, a two-time America’s Cup Champion who is in his second season as skipper and CEO of Team USA is. “There are so many sports enthusiasts in America, so it’s really cool to see so many of them becoming fans.
“Season 4 will have four of the greatest cities with incredible circuits for spectators to watch and we know there will be huge participation and support for the US team,” said Spithill, an Australian who lives with his American wife and their in San Diego lives two sons. “Of course I’m biased, but I believe these will be the best events of the season and will be heavily attended.”
The course for the New York regatta will be in front of Governors Island, which is expected to offer better conditions and spectator access than when it was held off Manhattan in 2019. Racing conditions at the time were not ideally affected by skyscrapers due to the Hudson River current and wind.
Other stops include Saint-Tropez, France; Taranto, Italy; Andalusia-Cadiz, Spain; a yet to be determined port in the United Arab Emirates; Sydney; Auckland; and Bermuda. SailGP will visit Canada for the first time, with Halifax, Kingston, Montreal and Victoria competing for hosting rights. The winning city will be announced in May.
There will be a break of several months between Seasons 4 and 5 to allow sailors to compete in the Olympics and America’s Cup.
Tech tycoon Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts, a five-time America’s Cup champion from New Zealand, founded SailGP after their Oracle Team USA lost to Emirates Team New Zealand in the 2017 America’s Cup.
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