Is SailGP letting the players play?

When we watched the Season 5 opening event of SailGP, there were two observations. To start, with the first and last two events in the Middle East, we hope significant host fees justify the region’s notorious light winds (yawn!). No wonder the boats will soon be fitted with jet propulsion drives. But also, the umpires seemed to be letting the players play.

The league had established strict rules when boats meet, as contact in any form could mean losing a team for the next event. That’s bad! But perhaps, with the rising skill level to safely handle the F50s, there is now greater trust within the league, allowing close racing to occur without penalties.

As we saw in the 2024 America’s Cup, there was a massive bubble surrounding the AC75s, and fouls were called for seemingly nothing. That’s bad too, so seeing the F50s get close to each other is good.

Through the six races in Dubai, SailGP’s chief umpire Craig Mitchell’s team did issue six boat-on-boat penalties and provides this explanation of each foul.

Season 5 Leaderboard (after 1 of 14 events*
1. New Zealand, 10 points
2. Great Britain, 9 points
3. United States, 8 points
4. Spain, 7 points
5. Australia, 6 points
6. Canada, 5 points
7. France, 5 points
8. Denmark, 4 points
9. Germany, 3 points
10. Switzerland, 2 points
11. Brazil, 1 point
12. Italy, 0 points
* Ten of the 12 teams are privately owned, with the league having ownership of New Zealand and Spain.

SailGP information – YouTube – Facebook

Season 5 Schedule – 14 events
2024
November 23-24 – Dubai, UAE

2025
January 18-19 – Auckland, New Zealand
February 8-9 – Sydney, Australia
March 15-16 – Los Angeles, USA
March 22-23 – San Francisco, USA
May 3-4 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
June 7-8 – New York City, USA
July 19-20 – Portsmouth, Great Britain
August 16-17 – Sassnitz, Germany
September 6-7 – Taranto, Italy
September 20-21 – Geneva, Switzerland
October 4-5 – Andalucía – Cádiz, Spain
November 7-8 – Middle East *
November 29-30 – Grand Final – Abu Dhabi, UAE
* Venue to be announced

Format for Season 5:
• Teams compete in identical F50 catamarans.
• Each event runs across two days.
• Five 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 prize purse (amount not confirmed; Season 4 had $400,000.00 USD prize purse with winning team 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 a monetary award (amount not confirmed; Season 4 had $2 million USD prize).
• The top team on points ahead of the three-boat Championship Final will get a monetary award (amount not confirmed; Season 4 had a $350,000.00 prize).

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: https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2024/12/05/is-sailgp-letting-the-players-play/