SailGP has unveiled its final Season 4 calendar with four stops in the United States including a new race in the port of Los Angeles joining existing events in Chicago, New York and San Francisco.
Chicago will be the opening race for the season from June 16-17, 2023, followed by the race in Los Angeles on July 22-23. The final two races of the season will be in New York from June 22-23 with San Francisco hosting the season finale July 13-14, 2024.
“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,” said Andy Thompson, managing director of SailGP. “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.”
The new season starts in less than three months with the Rolex United States Sail Grand Prix in Chicago at the Navy Pier precinct, which debuted in Season 3 last June. After Chicago and then Los Angeles the month after, the league crosses the Atlantic for the European leg of the Season 4 calendar starting with Saint-Tropez, France, on September 9-10 before heading to Taranto, Italy, on September 23-24.
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 again is hosted by Cádiz in the Andalucía region. With over 50,000 fans cheering from the shorelines per day, an estimated $56.9 million was generated for the local economy.
Season 4 continues on January 13-14, 2024, with the Middle East Sail Grand Prix with the location and title partner announced in May. SailGP will then have races February 24-25 in Sydney sponsored by Destination New South Wales; Auckland, New Zealand, on March 23-24 as part of a multi-season agreement that sees Auckland and Christchurch alternate as hosts for four seasons.
The series then ends in the North American region with the Bermuda Sail Grand Prix on May 4-5 before the Canada Sail Grand Prix taking place on June 1-2. Over 10 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 before heading to New York and then San Francisco.
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. Season 5 of SailGP is scheduled to commence in late 2024.