Spain SailGP Overview:
The SailGP is returning to Spain! The SailGP Championship will return in 2022 for the sixth event of Season 3 after a successful weekend in Cádiz in 2021.
The Australian crew won the most recent Spain Sail Grand Prix, defeating the United States and Great Britain in the Grand Final. Will they repeat their achievement in 2022, or will another squad triumph in the sun of southern Spain?
Viewing Tickets
Fans may watch the racing from both on-land and on-water vantage points, with alternatives to suit every budget.
Spectators can watch the action from the Paseo Santa Barbara, where snack stands and the SailGP fan shop are located. Live race commentary and large displays will ensure that no one misses a thing!
Those looking for a more opulent experience may pick the On-Water spectator boats, which transport fans to the race course’s periphery for a closer look.
Spain SailGP Schedule:
Spain SailGP all updates are found here.
What exactly is SailGP?
After the 2017 America Cup between Ellison’s Team Oracle USA and Emirates Team New Zealand, SailGP was born.
During the Bermuda America’s Cup, there was a lot of talk about starting an America’s Cup World Series with foiling catamarans, which was led by Ellison and backed by the majority of the Challengers.
When Emirates Team New Zealand won the Cup for the first time in 2017, they declared a return to monohulls (the spectacular AC75s raced in Auckland this year).
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and five-time America’s Cup winner Russell Coutts decided to develop a completely new multi-stage worldwide circuit in foiling catamarans: GP Sail
Ellison is said to have supported the circuit entirely for the first three years. The plan was for other commercial supporters to join the circuit as it evolved and garnered more television exposure.
With much hoopla, the new racing circuit was unveiled, along with a $1 million prize purse for each season.
The series rules also included strict nationality criteria – at the time, stricter than the America’s Cup itself – albeit with exclusions for countries with no long history in the sport, in order to attract new sailing nations to the series.
Racing sees teams racing under their national flag in foiling catamarans, with all action aired using the software used to broadcast America’s Cups in 2013 and 2017.
Each SailGP event lasts two days and has three races on each day, for a total of six races.
The first five fleet races involve every team, while the final match race sets the top two teams against each other to determine the event champion.
The season concludes with the Grand Final, which features the Championship Final Race, a winner-take-all match race for a $1 million reward.
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What kind of boats does SailGP use?
SailGP is competed in 50-foot foiling, wing-sailed catamarans known as the SailGP F50, which are based on the AC50 design used in the 2017 America’s Cup.
Sensing a chance to turn the AC50s into a one-design class, Ellison and Coutts changed many of the existing boats utilized by the various Cup teams, built some new hulls and rigs, and formed a new, one-design class.
Although the boats are comparable in performance, the plan is to modernize the entire fleet on a continual development cycle so that the design can stay ahead of the current foiling innovations without sparking an expensive arms race for the latest technology.
A modular wingsail for the F50 has been developed, allowing racing in both lighter and greater wind ranges.
Who are the SailGP teams?
SailGP teams compete under a national flag, and the series enforces a nationality rule for each team’s sailors. The boat must be sailed by ‘developed’ sailing nations (nations with a long history in the sport), with the majority of the crew being nationals of the team’s country.
In essence, a ‘established’ sailing country’s entry must complete all but one crew seat with athletes from that country (the boats are usually sailed with five crew, but may sometimes be sailed with four or even three in extremely light conditions).
Other countries’ limitations are substantially less, with just two nationals necessary on the boat if all five crew are onboard, and only one required if four or three crew are onboard.
Team Australia SailGP
The Australian SailGP team won the first and second seasons of the series, and they appear to be one of the favorites heading into the second.
They have a tight sailing unit led by Laser Gold Medalist, Moth World Champion, and America’s Cup racer Tom Slingsby.
Team Great Britain SailGP
The first season of SailGP had a British SailGP team, however, the entry has since been taken over by British America’s Cup team, INEOS Team UK.
Sir Ben Ainslie, the most successful Olympic sailor of all time, leads the squad.
Team SailGP of the United States
Jimmy Spithill, one of the most successful America’s Cup skippers of all time, moved up to command the US team at the start of season 2 after leading Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli to the America’s Cup finals.
Denmark SailGP crew
Nicolai Sehested, a multi-time round-the-world ocean racer, leads the Danish SailGP team.
Team France SailGP
The French have long been known for their multihull capability, so it’s hardly surprising that they’d field a squad in this high-performance multihull competition. To date, though, the French team has been unable to compete at the very front of the fleet. Quentin Delapierre, who arrived midway through Season 2 fresh from the Olympic Games in Tokyo, has shown potential in the second half of the season.
Team Japan SailGP
The Japanese squad, led by Australian 49er Gold Medallist, Moth World Champion, and America’s Cup skipper Nathan Outteridge, has a slightly less stringent nationality requirement due to the country’s status as a developing sailing nation.
The squad performed admirably in season one, finishing second overall, and were the only team to consistently threaten Slingsby’s Team Australia for victories. They maintained this form throughout the second season and should be a front-runner again in the third.
Team New Zealand SailGP
New Zealand is a new SailGP team for the second season, led by the hottest name in sailing right now, 49er Olympic gold medalist and reigning America’s Cup winner Peter Burling.
Burling’s long-time sailing partner, Blair Tuke, is also on board, as with a slew of talent from the ENTZ and New Zealand Olympic squads.
Team Spain SailGP
The Spanish team is the youngest to compete in Sail GP’s cutting-edge sail racing championship, and made its debut in February 2020. Initially skippered by Australian Phill Robertson, the Spanish team is not skippered by a rising star of Spanish sailing Jordi Xammar.
Team Switzerland SailGP
The newly created Switzerland Sail GP Team represents the next generation of SailGP talent, embarking on an adventure that combines ambition, talent, and passion. Driver Sébastien Schneiter will be the series’ youngest driver. They are a new team for the series’ third season.
Team Canada SailGP
The Canada Sail GP Team is an independent team that is the tenth to join SailGP for season three. The Canada SailGP Team and its partners are dedicated to growing sailing’s appeal in Canada and creating a route for exceptional athletes to compete in the sport.
How to Watch the SailGP?
The Sail GP 2022 season will be live-streamed on YouTube and will be available in most areas.
In addition, to live YouTube Sail GP racing, it will be available on Sky Sports with both live racing and a highlights package for sailors in the UK.
In addition, to live YouTube Sail GP racing, CBS will offer a mix of live coverage and highlights packages to viewers in the United States.
A delayed full race replay will also be available on the SailGP Facebook page.
As an addition to the broadcaster coverage, a Sail GP app is available. The app features live data and video streams, side-by-side video and racing stats, the ability to change viewing angles and zoom in on the action, swap teams, and select data feeds.
The app will provide delayed coverage and full race replay 48 hours after the event has concluded.
When is the SailGP?
The third season of Sail GP will begin in May 2022 and will comprise 10-11 events throughout the world (one event not listed here is still TBD), culminating with the Grand Finale in San Francisco in May 2023.
Bermuda Sail GP: May 14-15, 2022
Chicago, 18-19 June 2022, Sail GP USA
Plymouth, 30-31 June 2022, Sail GP Great Britain
Sail GP Denmark: Copenhagen, August 19-20, 2022
Sail GP France: Saint-Tropez, September 10-11, 2022
Sail GP Spain: Andalucia – September 24-25, 2022
Dubai Sail GP: November 12-13, 2022
Singapore Sail GP: 14-15 January 2023
Christchurch, 18-19 March 2023, Sail GP New Zealand
USA Sail GP Final: San Francisco 6-7 May 2023
