SailGP announces calendar for Season 4

SailGP, the world’s most exciting racing on water, has unveiled its final Season 4 calendar, featuring a mix of already established fan-favorite locations, new territories and some welcome returns to the SailGP host city fold. As a continued sign of the league’s rapid growth, the season will comprise 12 events, across four continents, over 13 months. Season 4 will start in June in Chicago and culminate once again in a spectacular Grand Final event on San Francisco Bay July 13-14, 2024. 

Season 4 will have an increased focus on the U.S. with three of the country’s biggest cities playing host to a Grand Prix and four events in total. This includes a new stop in Los Angeles – hosted from the Port of Los Angeles – and the reprise of New York, which will be one of the largest events of the season with a re-located racecourse off Governors Island, providing better racing conditions and spectator facilities with a backdrop of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. 

The new season starts in less than three months with the Rolex United States Sail Grand Prix in Chicago on June 16-17, 2023 at the stunning Navy Pier precinct – an event that delighted large crowds when it made its debut in Season 3 last June. From there, the league will remain in the U.S. and head to the West Coast for a first-ever Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix on July 22-23. While it will be a debut for SailGP, Los Angeles is no stranger to world-class events and is due to host its third Summer Olympics in 2028.

Following the two opening U.S. events, the league crosses the Atlantic for the European leg of the Season 4 calendar – starting with the iconic riviera destination of Saint-Tropez, France, on September 9-10, where last year, Quentin Delapierre’s home team set the all-time speed record of 99.94 km/h which currently still stands. Afterwards, the historical surrounds of Taranto, Southern Italy await on September 23-24, with the city returning to SailGP calendar after first appearing in Season 2. 

The European event schedule concludes with the league’s most economically impactful event to date, the Spain Sail Grand Prix, which takes place October 14-15, and once again is hosted by the vibrant city of Cádiz in the Andalucía region. Boasting the biggest spectator crowds of Season 3 – with over 50,000 fans cheering from the shorelines per day – a record 56.9 million USD was generated for the local economy. 

Season 4 continues on January 13-14, 2024 with the Middle East Sail Grand Prix. While the location and title partner will be announced in May, the event will take place for a second time in UAE after a successful Season 3 debut. 

Further South, the league makes a record fifth visit to the iconic Sydney Harbour on February 24-25. The event is supported by the NSW Government via its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW and is the only city that has been in the calendar every year since SailGP’s inception – proof that this is one of the best racecourses for fans and athletes alike. Following that, and after a sold out and hugely successful New Zealand debut in Christchurch last month, the second iteration of the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix will take place in Auckland on March 23-24 as part of a multi-season agreement that sees Auckland and Christchurch alternate as hosts for four seasons.

With the Southern Hemisphere stage complete, SailGP will move back to one of its most picturesque locations with the Bermuda Sail Grand Prix taking place on May 4-5 – another firm favorite on the calendar, having hosted two previous editions of SailGP. In great news for fans thrilled by Canada’s victory last month in New Zealand, the Phil Robertson-led team will have a home event in Season 4 with the Canada Sail Grand Prix taking place on June 1-2. Over ten cities submitted bids for the event with the shortlist of Halifax (Nova Scotia), Kingston (Ontario) Montreal (Quebec) and Victoria (British Columbia) making the final four. The successful city will be announced in May.

Following the first-ever Canada Sail Grand Prix, the season will conclude with two final U.S. events; New York on June 22-23 before the season finale, which will once again take place on the iconic waters of San Francisco Bay on July 13-14, 2024.

At the conclusion of the season, the league will pause for both the Olympic Games and America’s Cup to allow its athletes to participate in both, while at the same time the SailGP Technologies and Shared Services teams will perform maintenance and upgrades to the fleet. Season 5 of SailGP is scheduled to commence in late 2024. 

Andy Thompson, Managing Director of SailGP said: “The fact that we are again expanding our season from 11 to 12 events, and now have many multi-year agreements in place, shows the continued demand to host events and the strong momentum the league continues to experience. The impressive array of global locations and wide range of event title partners – with more to be announced soon – is great news for our passionate fans and partners alike and is further evidence of the growth and appeal our sport has on a global scale. It is amazing to see how far we have come since our inaugural Season launched in 2019 with just five events.”

Final SailGP Season 4 Schedule //

2023

June 16-17 // Rolex 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

2024

January 13-14 // UAE Sail Grand Prix | Venue to be announced

February 24-25 // KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney

March 23-24 // ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland

May 4-5 // Bermuda Sail Grand Prix

June 1-2 // Canada Sail Grand Prix | Venue to be announced

June 22-23 // United States Sail Grand Prix | New York

July 13-14 // SailGP Season 4 Grand Final | San Francisco