I added full team rosters for the 2019, 2020 (postponed) and 2021-22 seasons. I also added sources. Female development line-ups have also been added, with names of successfully selected female athletes highlighted in bold.
[[File:SAILGP American and Japanese Teams.jpg|thumb|The [[F50 (catamaran)|F50s]] of the Japan and United States SailGP teams foiling in New York Harbour at the New York Sail Grand Prix - part of SailGP's [[2019 SailGP championship|inaugural 2019 season]].]]
[[File:SAILGP American and Japanese Teams.jpg|thumb|The [[F50 (catamaran)|F50s]] of the Japan and United States SailGP teams foiling in New York Harbour at the New York Sail Grand Prix - part of SailGP's [[2019 SailGP championship|inaugural 2019 season]].]]
Revision as of 02:04, 1 June 2021
International sailing competition
SailGP is an international sailing competition using high performance F50foilingcatamarans, where teams compete across a season of multiple grands prix around the world.[1] Its reigning champions are Tom Slingsby's Australia SailGP team, who won the inaugural 2019 SailGP championship.[2]
Background
The competition was founded by Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle and champion yachtsman Russell Coutts.[3] Their aim was to establish a commercially viable global race series with a large audience. This had been unsuccessfully attempted in the past with series such as the Extreme Sailing Series. The SailGP format uses fast foiling catamarans in a variety of spectacular locations.[4] Teams are currently owned by the competition with the intention of becoming privately owned.[5]
Racing
The F50 boats used in the competition are one-design boats maintained and operated by SailGP. Technical information is also shared between teams, which includes large amounts of data collected using Oracle systems. This is intended to prevent secret "arms races" that the organizers believe dominate the America's Cup, and to ensure that the outcomes of races are determined by skill and ability, and not technology.[6][7][8]
Each SailGP event consists of two days of competitive racing. The first day of racing consists of three fleet races, while the second day consists of two fleet races and a match race final[9]. In the 2019 SailGP championship, the two highest-ranking teams in the event leaderboard qualified for the match race final of that event; in the 2021-22 SailGP championship, the three highest-ranking teams in the event leaderboard qualified for the match race final.[10]
The final race of the season is a match race between the two highest scoring crews over the season, with the winner earning a US$1 million prize.[11][12] The circuit has been funded for 5 years to allow the competition to become self sustaining. This would see it run until at least 2023.[7]
Scoring
Scoring at events
Fleet races in each event are scored with the winning team scoring ten points, the second-placed team scoring nine points, and so on. The three highest-ranking teams in the event leaderboard qualify for the match race final of that event.[10]
Scoring in the championship
The winner of the match race final is awarded ten points in the championship leaderboard, with second and third place being awarded nine and eight points respectively. Teams who did not qualify for the match race final are awarded points corresponding to their rankings in the event leaderboard.[10]
Over the first season SailGP attracted over 133,000 live spectators and had a television audience of 1.8 billion. The five races had a claimed economic impact of US$115 million on their host cities.[18][19][20]
The second season of SailGP introduced two new teams to the sport, with Spain replacing the Chinese team[21] and Denmark joining on as the 7th team.[22] The British team changed as well, signing four-time Olympic Gold medalist and America's Cup skipper Ben Ainslie. The revamped team, introduced members of the original British team and the America's Cup team Ineos Team UK.[23]
This season was scheduled to visit the same venues of the first season but with Marseille swapped out for Copenhagen for the final venue, which coincided with the arrival of the new Danish team.[24] The first round of the season began in Sydney, Australia. On the first day, Ben Ainslie and his British team won the first three races.[25] On the second day of racing, Great Britain won a further race in the fleet races, with Australia taking the final fleet race. In the championship race, Great Britain beat the Australian team, winning them their first event title.[26]
The second round of the 2020 SailGP race was due to be held in San Francisco, in May 2020,[27] however SailGP suspended its season until the end of June 2020. SailGP later delayed the second season until 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with points from the Sydney race removed from the championship.[28]
^Ed Powys will replace Jason Waterhouse at the Italy and Great Britain Sail Grands Prix. Powys will then replace Sam Newton for the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix.[51]
^Nina Curtis joined the Australia SailGP team following a development and training camp at the Bermuda Sail Grand Prix event.[52]
^Joey Newton will replace Sam Newton at the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix.[53]
As part of its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative, SailGP hosted a series of women's invitational camps that were conducted in each team market.[73] Teams in the 2021-22 SailGP championship were required to train female athletes as part of a trial, with one female athlete then becoming a full member of the team.[74] The names of athletes selected to become a full member of a SailGP team have been bolded.