SailGP on its split fleet future and co-existing with the America’s Cup

SailGP heads into the second half of season six this weekend in Portsmouth in an air of optimism as the league continues on its path to expansion.

But there are challenges ahead, not least where and when this season will finish in the wake of the real-world unrest in the Middle East, and in the longer term how it will co-exist in the same space as a rejuvenated America’s Cup.

Ahead of the race weekend in Portsmouth, The Foil sat down with SailGP managing director Andrew Thompson to gain his perspective on some of the big talking points of the moment.

Have we seen the end of mass fleet racing in SailGP?
“Well in short, yes. We are expanding all the time. We’re going to 14 boats next year, the year after that we’re going to 16. So having two fleets is our future. After reviewing Halifax, certainly our management liked what we saw and we spoke to some of the sailors. My view [on split fleets and group racing] is that there’s more passing, more overtaking opportunities and it’s less random than with 13 boats. There’s so much going on with a 13-boat race it’s really hard to follow what’s going on. There’s a little battle over here, another over there. It’s hard for the broadcast team to keep up.

“The spectacle will develop over time and frankly there are only so many boats we can get on a startline. In light winds it’s actually better because there’s less dirty air. In those big fleets one boat would get away and that would be race over.

“It also provides some opportunities to come up with newer formats. We might look in the future that day one becomes a qualification day, that the top teams go into a gold fleet, then we have a silver fleet – and a repechage for one team to get into the final. There are cool things we can do, although we don’t want to get too complex so it becomes difficult to understand.

“One thing we’ve also seen data-wise in recent years which is bugging me, is that any team lower than seventh after day one hasn’t made the final. It’s almost like those teams [at the bottom of the table] don’t have much to play for on day two, except picking up a couple of points.

“Obviously it wasn’t an easy decision to make [to drop mass fleet racing]. There’s a safety aspect as well that we have in mind.”

A decision will need to be made about what happens at the end of the season with the Middle East rounds in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. What’s the timeline and potential solutions?
“We’re obviously talking to our stake holders in the Middle East, of which we have a lot. Obviously safety of our athletes, our partners, all of our staff is paramount, so we’re monitoring the situation quite closely. Our ship has to pass through the Strait of Hormuz to get to the UAE. The real answer is we have until September when we load our ship in Marseille after the Geneva event to then go the UAE to make a call on that. We will continue to look at Foreign Office advice, the US State Department advice.

“Certainly our partners in the region are very keen for racing to happen, they are reassuring us it is safe. We will make our own decision. We are also in discussions with various rights holders that are delivering other events in the region at that time: golf tours, motor races. There’s a group of sporting rights holders who are having discussions at the moment.”

The America’s Cup has just published its 2027 schedule. It’s going to be an incredibly intense time with SailGP happening around it too. Can these two entities co-exist?
“The schedule is going to get more jam-packed, for sure. It just so happens we miss each other, but I agree in the future it’s going to be a challenge. I think we can definitely co-exist. It’s kind of nice the America’s Cup have decided to race during a period when we are shipping from the US to Europe, almost a natural downtime in our season. We’re in dialogue with management from the America’s Cup and obviously many of our teams have entries in the America’s Cup too. We will continue to be collaborative but ultimately we want to deliver a consistent season. We are going to go out with our calendar early [in future years] and if they choose to have their events around that, so be it. We are focused on what we are doing.”

Do you think a time will come when teams and sailors will have to choose which one they are going to do?
“Yeah, possibly. It may come down to that. But there are enough sensible heads around the room that that shouldn’t happen. The Champions League and the World Cup seem to figure it out in football, between UEFA and FIFA. If we are sensible we can do it.”

But it feels like a good time for sailing, doesn’t it?
“Yes, it’s a great time to be in sailing and to be a sailor. The America’s Cup is having a resurgence which is good for the sport, and for us too. It’s a great time to be involved if you are an events organiser or a competitor. It’s setting it up nicely for the next generation.”