SailGP Coming to San Francisco

SailGP, a new annual, global sports championship embarking on its inaugural season, today launched ticket sales for its highly anticipated San Francisco event, which will take place on Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5. San Francisco SailGP will feature bold, cutting edge technology and awe-inspiring athleticism, introducing U.S. audiences to sailing redefined while showcasing the members of the national team on home waters. Tickets are now on sale at SailGP.com/SanFrancisco.

On May 4 and May 5, San Francisco SailGP will take place from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., just off the Marina Yacht Club Peninsula, in the heart of San Francisco Bay with the Golden Gate Bridge serving as a stunning backdrop. Each of this year’s events will feature teams representing six countries – the United States, Australia, China, France, Great Britain and Japan – all racing on identical 50-foot foiling catamarans, known as the F50 – the world’s fastest, most technologically advanced race boat.

The F50 is a new class of boat. It shares DNA with the revolutionary catamarans used for the 35th America’s Cup in 2017, but is the next generation. These pioneering boats are the culmination of 10 years of development in high-performance, foiling, multihull racing. The F50s are expected to break the 50-knot speed (60mph/100kph) barrier and fans in San Francisco could be witness to this.

Each national team will compete in a total of 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 SailGP will be the first grand prix in the United States and the second in a series of five global events happening throughout the inaugural year in 2019. Spearheaded by Sir Russell Coutts and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, SailGP is officially sanctioned by World Sailing.

SailGP Season 1 kicked off in Sydney last week (February 15-16), with the Australia SailGP Team coming out on top as the event winner on their home waters. After the San Francisco grand prix, SailGP will move to New York in June (21-22) and Cowes, UK in August (10-11), before the Marseille finale in September (20-22), which will feature a winner-takes-all, $1 million championship match race between the season’s top two teams to conclude three days of racing.

“San Francisco has a unique harbor that is perfect for sailing and we are thrilled to hold our first U.S. SailGP event in the Bay Area,” said SailGP CEO Russell 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.”

In addition to purchasing tickets, fans can register at SailGP.com/SanFrancisco to receive exclusive updates on unique experiences available for the event, including on-water boater registration, which offers special perks for fans wishing to watch the action from personal boats. Those who register early will also receive important race management information, including detailed schedules, spectator zones and the latest race course maps.

U.S. fans will be treated to the stateside debut of the United States SailGP Team – encompassing some of the most talented high-performance sailors in the country. The crew comprise Rome Kirby, 29, of Newport, Rhode Island (helmsman); Riley Gibbs, 22, of Long Beach, California (wing trimmer); Taylor Canfield, 30, of St. Thomas, USVI (flight controller), Hans Henken, 26, of Coronado, California (reserve flight controller); Mac Agnese, 24, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida (grinder); and Dan Morris, 31, of Newport, Rhode Island (grinder).

All six SailGP teams will be in San Francisco practicing for two weeks prior to the start of San Francisco SailGP.

About Giants Enterprises: Giants Enterprises, the entrepreneurial arm of the San Francisco Giants dedicated to developing new ventures beyond the Major League Baseball franchise, hosts one-of-a-kind experiences at Oracle Park, throughout San Francisco, on San Francisco Bay and beyond. Giants Enterprises has produced thousands of events over the last 18+ years, including the 34th America’s Cup, delivering the Official Spectator Experiences and successfully commercializing the event for the first time in its 160-year history. In addition, Giants Enterprises has produced and executed major concerts, international soccer matches, Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018, professional and college football games and The Giant Race series. One of the top hospitality, event, entertainment and sports consultancy teams in the world, Giants Enterprises operates more than 15 venues in and around Oracle Park including three luxury maritime vessels. For more information, visit www.giantsenterprises.com.

About SailGP: SailGP is sailing redefined. Established in 2018 and headquartered in London and San Francisco, SailGP is an annual, global sports league featuring bold, cutting-edge technology and awe-inspiring athleticism. The fan-centric, inshore racing takes place in some of the most iconic harbors around the globe and culminates with a $1 million winner-takes-all match race. Rival national teams from Australia, China, France, Great Britain, Japan and the United States battle it out in identical supercharged F50 catamarans, engineered for intense racing at electrifying speeds exceeding 50 knots (nearly 60 mph/100 kph). For more information, visit www.SailGP.com.