SailGP Coming to San Francisco
SailGP is embarking on this, its inaugural season. The tour will come to San Francisco on the weekend of May 4-5. Tickets will go on sale on Thursday, February 21, at SailGP.com.
The San Francisco engagement will be the second in a series of five events happening around the world in 2019. Sir Russell Coutts and Oracle founder Larry Ellison spearheaded SailGP, and World Sailing has sanctioned it. Each of this year’s events will feature teams representing six countries — USA, Australia, China, France, Great Britain and Japan — racing on identical 50-ft foiling catamarans, a class known as the F50. The press releases tout the F50 as “the world’s fastest, most technologically advanced flying catamaran.”
The new F50 is a redesigned incarnation of the foiling cats used for the past two America’s Cups. The F50s are expected to break the 50-knot (60 mph/100 kph) barrier.
Racing on San Francisco Bay is scheduled for noon to 2 p.m., just off the Marina, with the Golden Gate Bridge serving as the sort of stunning backdrop we Bay sailors take for granted. The teams will compete in five short-format fleet races, culminating with the top two teams facing off in a match-race finale to determine the event winner on Sunday afternoon.
“San Francisco has a unique harbor that is perfect for sailing. We are thrilled to hold our first US SailGP event in the Bay Area,” said Coutts. “The Bay’s consistently strong thermal winds will create an ideal test for these top sailors, and the shoreline serves as a natural amphitheater for spectators to take in the action. Fans in San Francisco will witness six flying catamarans going faster than ever before in a race environment — this is the next generation of sailing.”
Fans can register at SailGP.com to receive exclusive updates on unique experiences available for the event, including access to ticket pre-sales and on-water boater registration, which offers special perks for fans wishing to watch the action from personal boats. Register early to receive race management information including detailed schedules, spectator zones and the latest racecourse maps.
The five US team members are: Rome Kirby, 29, of Newport, RI (helmsman); Riley Gibbs, 22, of Long Beach (wing trimmer); Hans Henken, 26, of Coronado (flight controller); Mac Agnese, 24, of Fort Lauderdale, FL (grinder); and Dan Morris, 31, of Newport, RI (grinder).
SailGP’s 2019 season will kick off in Sydney, Australia, on February 15-16. New York will host on June 21-22; Cowes, UK, on August 10-11; and Marseille, France, on September 20-22. The September finale will feature a winner-takes-all $1 million championship match race between the season’s top two teams to conclude three days of racing.
All six SailGP teams will be in San Francisco practicing for two weeks prior to the start of the San Francisco event.