SailGP’s chief operations officer Julien Di Biase recently gave an indication of the cost to host an event, but this report by STUFF media details how much was paid to host the New Zealand event:
The SailGP event in Lyttelton in March cost Christchurch ratepayers nearly $1 million NZD to host, but attracted 6,000 visitors who spent $3.3m.
The cost includes a $400,000 cash “host city” payment made to SailGP, and another $519,786 in various costs associated with running the event.
These costs, released to The Press under official information laws, were paid by ratepayer-funded economic development agency ChristchurchNZ, despite the city stepping in to host the event with just four months notice after Auckland was dropped as the 2024 host. – Full report
Editor’s note: $100.00 NZD is not quite $60.00 USD, and we suspect the amounts paid were less than desirable to the league due to the late move of the Kiwi event.
SailGP information – YouTube – How to watch
Season 4 Final Standings (13 events; results and total points)
1. Spain (Diego Botin), 5-1-3-6-6-10-2-5-4-1-4-7-6-(1)
2. Australia (Tom Slingsby), 2-3-2-2-3-2-7-1-10-3-7-4-1-(2)
3. New Zealand (Peter Burling), 1-7-8-DNC/6-4-1-1-3-1-2-5-1-4-(3)
4. Denmark (Nicolai Sehested), 4-2-4-7-2-6-9-2-9-5-3-8-2
5. Great Britain (Ben Ainslie/Giles Scott), 7-6-1-1-8-5-8-7-7-8-1-3-3
6. Canada (Phil Robertson), 3-4-10-5-5-3-6-10-3-4-6-2-5
7. France (Quintin Delapierre), 6-8-6-4-7-4-4-4-2-9-2-5-7
8. United States (Jimmy Spithill/Taylor Canfield), 9-5-5-3-1-8-3-9-8-10-10-10-9
9. Germany (Erik Heil), 10-10-7-8-9-10-9-5-6-5-6-8-9-8
10. Switzerland (Sebastien Schneiter/Nathan Outteridge), 8-9-9-9-7-10-8-6-7-9-6-10
For scoring details, click here.
SailGP resumes with Season 5 on November 23-24 in Dubai, UAE. For details, click here.
Season 4 – 2023
June 16-17 – United States Sail Grand Prix | Chicago at Navy Pier
July 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | Los Angeles
September 9-10 – France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez
September 23-24 – Italy Sail Grand Prix | Taranto
October 14-15 – Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía- Cádiz
December 9-10 – Dubai Sail Grand Prix | Dubai*
Season 4 – 2024
January 13-14 – Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix | Abu Dhabi
February 24-25 – Australia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney
March 23-24 – New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland
March 23-24 – New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Christchurch
May 4-5 – Bermuda Sail Grand Prix
June 1-2 – Canada Sail Grand Prix | Halifax
June 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | New York
July 13-14 – SailGP Season 4 Grand Final | San Francisco
* Added October 3, 2023
Format for Season 4:
• Teams compete in identical F50 catamarans.
• Each event runs across two days.
• Up to seven qualifying fleet races of approximately 15 minutes may be scheduled for each regatta.
• The top three teams from qualifying advance to a final race to be crowned event champion and earn the largest share of the $300,000.00 USD event prize money purse (increases to $400k for Abu Dhabi with the winning team now earning $200k at each event).
• The season ends with the Grand Final, which includes the Championship Final Race for the top three teams in the season standing with the winner claiming the $2 million USD prize.
• The top team on points ahead of the three-boat Championship Final will be awarded $350,000.00.
For competition documents, click here.
Established in 2018, SailGP seeks to be an annual, global sports league featuring fan-centric inshore racing among national teams in some of the iconic harbors around the globe.
Source: scuttlebutt – https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2024/07/23/sailgp-the-cost-of-doing-business/