What 2027 calendar tells us about SailGP’s future

It is impressive to see how early SailGP is starting to announce its annual calendar. Pulling the venues together and creating a cohesive global roadshow is no mean feat. 

For me, travelling to all the events throughout the season, I’m obviously particularly invested in the venues SailGP decides to take us to. Looking at this line-up of 13 events for 2027, there are some wins and some losses compared with the 2026 season.

So, Hong Kong kicks off the season. Now, I love Hong Kong as a destination; it is a fantastic city. I have spent a lot of time there, and it’s great that the league is targeting the Far East. My only worries are that January in Hong Kong can be really cold, and I am not overly confident about the wind strength. We could find ourselves struggling for good breeze in Victoria Harbour.

Unlike Perth, on the other hand, which was an absolute humdinger of a start to the 2026 season. Some say this breezy, dramatic weekend was the best event in the six years of SailGP. So I’m stoked to see Perth is back on the agenda, running a month later this time in February.

On the other hand, there are two massive losses from the 2026 season: no Sydney for the first time, and no Auckland. 

I am pretty sure NZ will be back at some point, and that it is simply local politics stopping it from happening on this occasion. Bearing in mind that Sir Russell Coutts is from New Zealand, I am certain we will see it return. It would be a terrible pity to think we might not go back to Sydney. After all, this was where the very first event took place back in February 2019. But logistically, I understand this busy harbour is a very difficult place to run an event.

On the upside, San Francisco is back for the third event. It has been such an important part of SailGP’s early history and pretty much always delivers great conditions. This time it features a little later in the year than its March slot last season.

As for Bermuda, the sailors absolutely love it. In many senses, that is the place where SailGP was born, and it offers the exact conditions for which the original AC50 catamaran was designed.

From Bermuda through to Valencia, we have pretty much the same events as this season, which is a mark of SailGP’s drive to achieve year-on-year consistency. Russell Coutts talks a lot about how the golf majors, tennis majors, and Formula 1 grands prix are pretty much set in stone for certain times of the year, allowing them to become part of the social, sporting and cultural fabric. It is good to see that he is well on his way to achieving that level of consistency for most of the American and European events.

Rome has to be one of the most exciting prospects for SailGP. I don’t even think of Italy’s ancient capital as being anywhere close to the sea, although Fiumicino Airport is really not far away. Whether or not it will feel like we’re in Rome, or if it will be more like a Ryanair flight that says you’re going to Rome but you’re actually an hour-and-a-half’s drive away, we’ll have to see. Hopefully the event in September 2027 will be able to capitalise on all the buzz from what we hope will have been a great America’s Cup not far down the coast in Naples three months earlier. With Ferrari’s Hypersail offshore racing project also taking shape, there’s no better time for SailGP to return to Italy after a four-year break.

It is also interesting to note that Geneva is no longer on the schedule for next year. It is a notoriously light-wind venue, so it won’t be missed much.

We then see a completely opposite time of year for the return to Brazil. It made its debut just last month in April, but will now take place in October. Hopefully, this shift will mean better breeze for Brazil; everything else about that venue is fantastic.

Then it is back to Dubai in November. It is not most people’s favourite venue for SailGP, and the lack of wind there is likely to remain an ongoing problem.

Finally, we have the Grand Final. It is easy to assume this could be Abu Dhabi. Could it be another venue in the Middle East? Qatar was mooted as a possible additional venue for the end of this season, which isn't currently happening. So perhaps we will see it there, or Saudi Arabia. 

Amaala, the new luxury destination that’s being developed on Saudi Arabia’s north-western coast is already down as the finish of The Ocean Race in summer 2027, and the developers are working hard at targeting sailing as one of the reasons to go there. The breeze in this part of the Red Sea is a whole lot more plentiful than in the UAE, so this might avert the problem of a dull, non-foiling finale.

All in all, it is an exciting line-up of 13 events. While there are some venues we will miss a lot, we see the return of some old favourites alongside a few new locations that I’m quite excited about.