Season 5 SailGP
Insight, action and spotlight on SailGP
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40
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14
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At a Glance
SailGP: Sailing’s answer to Formula 1
Thirteen national teams racing identical F50 foiling catamarans across a year-long championship that hits five continents. These boats fly above the water at speeds touching 100 km/h, powered by wind alone, with crews making split-second calls while pulling several Gs through tight turns.
Founded by Russell Coutts and Larry Ellison in 2019, SailGP set out to prove professional sailing could be commercially sustainable without billionaire life-support. Six seasons in, franchise valuations have rocketed from $5 million to over $50 million, celebrity investors are piling in, and the racing remains ruthlessly close…
Frequently Asked Questions
Dive Deeper
What is SailGP?
SailGP is a global racing league launched in 2018, often described as “F1 on water.” Thirteen national teams compete in identical F50 foiling catamarans that fly above the water at over 100 km/h using wind power alone. The series runs a full season across multiple countries with short, action-focused races designed for spectators and TV.
What makes the F50 boats so fast?
The F50 is a 15-metre foiling catamaran that lifts out of the water on hydrofoils to reduce drag. A rigid wingsail acts like an aircraft wing to generate huge power, and interchangeable foil and wing sizes let teams tune performance for different conditions. With the latest T-foils and refined control systems, the boats regularly exceed 100 km/h.
How does the SailGP championship format work?
Each event includes fleet racing with all 13 teams, followed by a three-boat Final to decide the event winner. Season points are awarded based on event results, and the top three teams across the year qualify for the Season Grand Final, a winner-takes-all showdown for the title. Penalties for collisions or rule breaches can deduct event and season points.
Who owns and runs SailGP teams?
Teams are franchise-based and commercially scalable, not billionaire vanity projects. High-profile investors include Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman (Australia), Anne Hathaway (Italy), Kylian Mbappé (France), and Sebastian Vettel (Germany). Team valuations have risen from around $5 million to tens of millions as the league has grown.
Why do people compare SailGP to Formula 1?
Both sports use a multi-stop global calendar, high-performance hardware, tight race windows, and heavy broadcast graphics to make the action easy to follow. But unlike F1, SailGP uses one-design boats, and all teams share each other’s performance data via Oracle Cloud. That keeps racing close and emphasises skill, not budgets or engineering arms races.
