Please select your home edition
Edition
Maritimo M50

SailGP aims at a commercially sustainable platform in three years

by Bernie Wilson AP News 4 Oct 2018 02:04 PDT 4 October 2018
Oracle Team USA now become United States SailGP Team on the Sail GP circuit © Richard Gladwell

San Diego based America's Cup correspondent, Bernie Wilson, spoke with Sail GP backer, Sir Russell Coutts ahead of the launch of the new Sail GP circuit at Tower Bridge, London on Wednesday evening.

New Zealander Russell Coutts is moving past the America’s Cup to help launch what he hopes is a commercially sustainable sailing league using supercharged foiling 50-foot catamarans capable of zipping across the tops of waves at 53 knots (60 mph).

Coutts and American software tycoon Larry Ellison announced their SailGP global racing league Wednesday in London.

Teams from the United States, Australia, Great Britain, France, Japan and China will compete starting in 2019 in highly advanced catamarans called F50s.

The series begins Feb. 15-16 in Sydney, Australia, followed by regattas in San Francisco on May 4-5; New York on June 21-22; Cowes, England, on Aug. 10-11; and the finale in Marseille, France, on Sept. 20-22 that will include a winner-take-all $1 million match race.

“I’m super excited about it,” Coutts, SailGP’s CEO, told The Associated Press ahead of the formal announcement. “I’ve been waiting for this for quite some time and that’s the unique thing about sailing is we don’t have anything like this that exists today and it will fill a void.”

Coutts, 56, won the America’s Cup five times from 1995-2013. He sailed undefeated through three straight matches, the first two as skipper for Team New Zealand and the third time as skipper of Alinghi of Switzerland. After sitting out the 2007 America’s Cup, he became the non-sailing CEO of Ellison’s Oracle Team USA, which won the Auld Mug in 2010 and defended it in 2013 before losing it to Emirates Team New Zealand in 2017.

Coutts attempted to steer the America’s Cup toward being commercially sustainable but that quest ended when Oracle Team USA was routed by New Zealand, which has decided to ditch catamarans in favor of a high-performance, foiling multihull.

The next America’s Cup won’t be until 2021. By then, there will have been two seasons of SailGP.

The America’s Cup turned into a playground for billionaires — including Ellison — although the cash-strapped Kiwis bucked that trend when they hit on a brilliant boat design that carried them to a stunning upset last year. Fewer teams competed in last two editions of sailing’s marquee regatta due to staggering costs.

It’s roughly estimated that Ellison spent $750 million during five America’s Cup campaigns.

SailGP plans to get around that starting with a centralized design team, led by America’s Cup Hall of Famer Mike Drummond, that will provide identical boats to each team, and a centralized maintenance and logistics operation like the one used by the Volvo Ocean Race.

“We want each of the teams to have the same chance with emphasis on close racing,” Coutts said. “It will be nation vs. nation in fast, exciting boats, with close racing. We don’t want it be an arms race where one team takes a technological advantage over the other one. It will be close racing between top sailing teams.

“All the racing I’ve done in my life, the ones that are competitive and close are the ones you remember the most,” said Coutts, who won a gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. “That applies to racing fans as well.”

Coutts said a SailGP team will cost $5 million a year to run. And unlike the America’s Cup, where iconic teams such as Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes come and go, the plan is to keep teams going for the long haul.

Ellison, one of the world’s richest men with a fortune estimated at nearly $63 billion, will initially cover the league’s costs before it moves to a franchise ownership model that Coutts said has already attracted interest.

Sail GP took three 50-foot catamarans from the 2017 America’s Cup and redesigned and re-engineered them, and built three new ones.

For the rest of this story click here

Related Articles

Were the Roos Robbed in Portsmouth?
We discuss the Race 6 Penalty with SailGP's Chief Umpire Craig Mitchell The high speed, short course action of SailGP is thrilling to watch, but inevitably causes tight situations and means the Umpires have to react quickly to decide who is right and who is wrong. Posted on 22 Jul
A Day at the Races
What's it like to attend a SailGP event? On Sunday I went to the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Portsmouth, sitting in the grandstand and filming with the usual camera I use for interviews to try and give you a taste of the action and atmosphere from the shoreside. Posted on 21 Jul
Black Foils steal Brits' home win
On SailGP Portsmouth debut It was not to be for Dylan Fletcher's Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team as Peter Burling's Black Foils cinched victory in Portsmouth, bumping New Zealand to the top of the 2025 Season leaderboard. Posted on 20 Jul
SailGP Day 2: Black Foils score an emphatic win
Black Foils (NZL) won the Final of Emirates SailGP in Portsmouth, with a come from behind win. New Zealand's Black Foils won the Final of Emirates SailGP in Portsmouth, with a come from behind win, in the Final to eclipse the home team and Switzerland. Posted on 20 Jul
Emirates GBR storm to top of event leaderboard
After Day One of SailGP Portsmouth debut Hometown glory for Dylan Fletcher's Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team as they lead the fleet after a picture perfect opening day of the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix | Portsmouth. Posted on 19 Jul
SailGP Portsmouth: Brits nail it on Day 1
Olympic Gold medalist Dylan Fletcher led his team to top the leaderboard after Day 1 The French team broke their wingsail before the start of Race 1 and are likely to be out of the regatta before it starts. Posted on 19 Jul
Emirates GBR tops Impact League standings
SailGP team wins second focus area - Accelerating Inclusion SailGP has announced the winners of the second Focus Area of its industry-leading Impact League - Emirates GBR SailGP Team - as the home-team and defending Impact League champions get set for an epic weekend of racing in Portsmouth, July 19-20. Posted on 19 Jul
SailGP comes to Portsmouth!
We speak to the sailors ahead of the weekend The Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix | Portsmouth takes place this weekend, with the 12 teams competing in F50 catamarans close to the waterfront, where a massive grandstand has been built for the spectators. Posted on 18 Jul
SailGP: No practice racing at Portsmouth
The Practice Race was a fizzer, however the future of the SailGP fleet development was revealed. The scheduled Practice Day failed to fire at SailGP Portsmouth, after the forecast, admittedly light, breeze failed to male an appearance. The self propelled start marks were making a much better speed than the F50s. Posted on 18 Jul
SailGP Technologies officially launches
New center of excellence in technology & innovation in Southampton, UK SailGP today marks the official opening of SailGP Technologies – the global racing championship's center of innovation, design, and engineering, based out of Southampton, UK. Posted on 17 Jul
Cyclops Marine 2023 November - FOOTERNorth Sails Loft 57 PodcastPalm Beach Motor Yachts