When the Ocean Calls: The Tale of Rolex SailGP’s 2026 Season

SailGP today unveiled new details about its 2026 season, including the return of fan‑favorite venues, the securing of multi‑year hosting agreements across all regions, and the introduction of a regional structure designed to enhance every stage of the Rolex SailGP Championship for both athletes and fans.

On a shimmering morning in mid‑January 2026 the waters off Perth in Western Australia will be alive with a kind of electric anticipation that only great sporting moments can generate. Hundreds of boats will bob in the harbour, their rigging humming in the breeze and sails waiting to unfurl. Fans young and old will line the waterfront, cameras in hand, their eyes reflecting the elegant carbon hulls of F50 catamarans that are just hours away from their first high‑octane encounter of the new SailGP season. It will be more than a race about to begin. It will be, in many ways, the continuation of a remarkable transformation that is changing how the world experiences competitive sailing.

SailGP will open its sixth season here as the world’s most widely broadcast and followed sailing championship. Following a breakthrough year in 2025, the league will have established figures few once imagined possible for a sport historically perceived as niche. With nearly two hundred and fifteen million broadcast viewers tuning in over the course of the previous campaign and an average of eighteen million viewers per event, the league’s presence on television and digital platforms has grown into a global phenomenon. Coupled with well over one and a half billion social media views, these numbers reveal a sport that has transcended its traditional boundaries and captured the imagination of millions around the world.

A Global Calendar Unfolds

As 2026 began the energy of SailGP was already building. The league’s calendar is a globe‑spanning journey across five continents, each stop offering a unique backdrop and a new challenge. In Perth the Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix presented by KPMG welcomed the fleet on January seventeenth and eighteenth, setting the tone for a season defined by intensity and spectacle.

From Australia the championship moved eastward to New Zealand’s Waitematā Harbour for the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix on February fourteenth and fifteenth. This venue, with its deep connections to maritime history and enthusiastic sailing culture, never fails to stir emotions in both competitors and spectators.

The following weekend saw the fleet return to Australian waters for the KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix on February twenty‑eighth and March first, a signature event where the roar of the engines and the cheers of the crowd merge into a carnival of wind and water.

In April the season ventured to South America for the Enel Rio Sail Grand Prix, where the colours of the city and the passion of local fans brought a festive feel to high‑stakes racing on April twelfth and thirteenth.
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May brought two classic encounters on the calendar. The Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix on May tenth and eleventh offered another stage of deep blue tropical waters and postcard scenery. Just weeks later, the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix on May thirty‑first and June first thrilled crowds against the skyline of Manhattan, a venue that has become a hallmark of SailGP’s blend of sport and spectacle.

June saw the Canadian stop at Halifax with the Canada Sail Grand Prix on June twenty‑first and twenty‑second, followed by a historic European leg. In July the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix returned at Portsmouth on July twenty‑sixth and twenty‑seventh, a race that feels like a homecoming for many sailors and fans alike.

August brought the Germany Sail Grand Prix to Sassnitz on August twenty‑third and twenty‑fourth where iconic chalk cliffs and passionate crowds create a dramatic stage for competition. September became a festival of sailing with the Spain Sail Grand Prix and the Rockwool France Sail Grand Prix at Saint‑Tropez on September thirteenth and fourteenth, places where glamour and raw competition intermingle in a way only SailGP can achieve.

As the northern hemisphere summer waned the league’s finale unfolded in the United Arab Emirates with the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix presented by DP World on November twenty‑first and twenty‑second and the grand finale at Abu Dhabi on November twenty‑eighth and twenty‑ninth where the 2026 champion will be crowned.

In a new and exciting dimension of the 2026 season the Artemis SailGP Team from Sweden will join the fleet as its thirteenth national squad. Led by experienced sailors including Nathan Outteridge and guided by Olympic gold medallist Iain Percy as CEO this team brings fresh talent and passion to a league already rich with stories of courage and craft.

Origins of a New Kind of Sailing

The roots of SailGP stretch back to 2018 when two visionary figures in the sailing world came together with an idea that was audacious in its simplicity and ambition. Sir Russell Coutts, a decorated competitor with a string of America’s Cup victories, and Larry Ellison, co‑founder of Oracle and a passionate supporter of high‑performance sailing, dreamed of reinventing how the sport could be presented to the world. They envisioned a professional league that brought thrilling, close‑to‑shore racing, national pride and cutting‑edge technology together in a way that appealed to television audiences and casual fans as much as seasoned sailors.

In 2019 that dream became reality with the first SailGP Championship. National teams took to the water in identical F50 catamarans, foiling above the surface at astonishing speeds, whispering past racecourses framed by iconic skylines. The Australian team, guided by Tom Slingsby, claimed the inaugural title and set the tone for seasons to follow.

Over the next seasons the league grew. Australia defended its title in the following years as more teams joined the fleet and the calendar expanded to include venues on multiple continents. Historic sailing cities like Sydney, New York and San Francisco welcomed these high‑velocity encounters, while newcomers brought the spectacle to places like Geneva, Portsmouth and Sassnitz. By 2025 SailGP had doubled the number of teams and events since its early years, and its total audience had multiplied multiple times over.

The Boats, the Technology and the Rush of Racing

Central to SailGP’s appeal is the extraordinary technology behind the competition. The F50 catamarans are not typical sailboats. Engineered from advanced composite materials, fitted with towering wing sails and hydrofoils that lift the hulls above the water, these vessels cut through the sea with grace and brutal efficiency. Capable of exceeding one hundred kilometres per hour, they bring a level of speed and dynamism that has never before been seen in fleet sailing. Each twist of the throttle and shift of crew weight is a tiny decision in a ballet of precision, and every race can pivot in moments that are both visually spectacular and deeply strategic.

The close proximity of the racecourses to shorelines allows fans to feel the roar of the wind and see the spray of seawater as the boats skitter across the water. Television coverage enhances this experience with real‑time graphics and data insights that bring the viewer into the cockpit alongside the athletes. The result is a sport that feels immediate and alive, a spectacle that bridges the gap between complex nautical technique and universally thrilling competition.

Champions and Rivalries Past and Present

When we look back at titles from earlier seasons we see the fingerprints of great rivalry and human determination. Australia dominated the early years of the league capturing the inaugural championship and defending it again in subsequent campaigns. In the 2021 and 2022 sequence, Australia once again stood at the front of the pack, a testament to consistency and excellence in the face of growing competition.

The 2023 and 2024 combined season marked a turning point when the Spanish team called Los Gallos interrupted the Australian march. Under the leadership of Diego Botín, Spain clinched the championship, a sign that the playing field was widening and that the dreams of sailors from many lands were now part of the SailGP narrative.

But it was in the 2025 season that one of the most emotional chapters in the league’s young history was written. The Emirates Great Britain team, with Dylan Fletcher at the helm, fought through a gauntlet of elite rivals including the formidable BONDS Flying Roos from Australia and the Black Foils of New Zealand. In a dramatic winner‑takes‑all Grand Final race in Abu Dhabi, Great Britain surged from behind to take the championship, securing not only the main trophy but also topping the Impact League, which celebrates teams’ environmental and social achievements. That season brought themes of redemption and resilience to the forefront.

Each of these victories tells a story of preparation and perseverance. In every crew there are athletes who have weathered injuries, setbacks or shifts in team dynamics, and there are those who find inspiration in the confidence of their peers and the roar of the crowds.

Predictions and Human Dreams

As the season unfolds there is a collective sense of possibility. The defending champions from Great Britain enter with the confidence of their Abu Dhabi triumph but find themselves watched closely by rivals determined to claim the crown. The Australian BONDS Flying Roos are still a force with their history of multiple titles. The Black Foils from New Zealand with Peter Burling remain prolific in their consistency and tactical nous. The Swedish entry and others bring a fresh sense of curiosity and competitiveness as well. Fans wonder not just who will win but how each team will write its own story on the water.

For sailors this is an arena where personal and collective memories are made. The thrill of cresting above the waves, the silent calculation of strategy, the sheer joy of mastering wind and wave together draws audiences closer to a sport that blends raw beauty with supreme athleticism. In every harbour crowds feel the pulse of possibility, of hope and of shared human endeavour. It is this human thread, running from the early vision of Coutts and Ellison to the smiling faces of fans on shore, that makes SailGP’s story so resonant.

Takeway from GrabMyBoat
SailGP has grown from a bold dream into a global sporting force that bridges technology and tradition, athleticism and art, national pride and personal passion. Its evolution has not only redefined sailing as a spectator sport, it has invited the world to rediscover the romance and drama of competition on the sea.
As the 2026 season continues, each race becomes a chapter in a larger story about what humans can achieve when they harness natural elements and their own collective will.

“From the winds off Perth to the desert lights of Abu Dhabi, SailGP’s narrative is about speed and skill but also about connection, growth, and the enduring pull of competition that feels elemental at its core“