Please select your home edition
Edition
Cyclops Marine 2023 November - LEADERBOARD

SailGP Season 3 Championship to be decided on San Francisco Bay

by SailGP 6 May 2023 01:36 BST 6-7 May 2023
The SailGP fleet in action during a practice session with Golden Gate Bridge in the background ahead of the Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final in San Francisco, USA © Jed Jacobsohn for SailGP

France and Emirates Great Britain battle to join Australia and New Zealand in Mubadala Season 3 Grand Final

Nine teams will become three this weekend as all eyes are drawn to the race for $1million and who will lift the Season Championship Trophy at the Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final taking place on San Francisco Bay on May 6 and 7.

After ten events that have spanned the globe from Bermuda to Saint-Tropez to Chicago, Sydney and beyond, Tom Slingsby's Australia SailGP Team and Peter Burling's New Zealanders are all but assured a spot in the Championship Final Race of Season 3. Emirates Great Britain and France, led by Sir Ben Ainslie and Quentin Delapierre respectively, have just one point between them on the overall leaderboard and are in a desperate battle for the final place in the three-boat Grand Final.

The whole fleet completed its final preparations this afternoon on the iconic racecourse in San Francisco Bay which encompasses the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island. Five fleet races will first take place across Saturday and Sunday before the fleet is trimmed from nine boats to three for the ultimate prize.

Two-time defending SailGP champion Tom Slingsby said his team would be looking to maintain consistent results across all races this weekend.

Slingsby said: "For us we're going to essentially do what we did last year, we were able to win the San Francisco event and the million dollar race. That's the goal. I don't think I'm a sailor who can just deliver the boat around the course and then all of a sudden turn it on and win the last race. We're a confidence team and we need to be sailing well, we're going to go out and try and win it all."

"For us we don't mind who wins out of Emirates Great Britain or France, it doesn't phase us at all, we probably won't be watching that, we know both teams are dangerous and they can beat us. May the best team win and we'll see them in the final."

Chasing Slingsby down and fellow winner of three events this season is Burling, whose New Zealand team has markedly improved after finishing fifth last season.

Burling said: "We've had some good battles with all three of the other teams in contention and as a group we really enjoy these moments when you get to test yourself against the best teams in the world. It would be absolutely amazing, as one of the newer teams, to be able to go out and get a win, it would be a huge milestone for the group. We're not getting ahead of ourselves. First we've got to definitely get through to the Final."

Ainslie and Delapierre said they would be looking to focus on their own teams in the leadup to the weekend rather than worry about what rivals were doing.

Ainslie said: "In a way we've got zero to lose and everything to gain. We're going to have to battle hard to get into the final but we'll be ready for a full on race and give everything we can to win. We want to be there racing against the best teams and we enjoy those high pressure moments so we're looking forward to it."

Delapierre said: "The opportunity is now in front of us, I am proud of that and I think we deserve our position today. It's exciting, it's not intimidating. Ben and Tom have achieved almost everything in our sport and have inspired the next generation, in France we say 'Merci, Monsieur' and we'll see what happens this week."

This time last season Jimmy Spithill and his United States team was in the Grand Final race, but he enters this weekend in a disappointing seventh on the leaderboard.

Spithill said: "It's disappointing not to be in the main event, if you're an NFL team you want to be in the Super Bowl, so it's disappointing not to have a shot. We weren't good enough, we don't deserve to be in the final. We had an up and down season and we weren't consistent enough, we won an event, we had a couple of finals but we had some really bad results too and you can't do that if you want to be in the Grand Final."

Away from the action on the water, the Denmark SailGP Team presented by ROCKWOOL was crowned Impact League champions earlier today.

In the most hotly contested Impact League to date, Nicolai Sehested's Denmark overcame fierce competition from defending champions New Zealand, who finished just five points behind in second, with Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team placed third.

Introduced in Season 2, the Impact League is a second leaderboard which runs alongside the Season Championship and tracks the positive actions teams take to reduce their overall footprint and accelerate inclusivity in sailing.

Sehested said: "We are delighted and proud to win the Impact League this season. It is impossible to win a competition as tough and unique as the Impact League without full commitment and dedication from everyone on the team, and the support and guidance of our partners ROCKWOOL and One Ocean Foundation.

"The level of competition from the other teams has been higher than ever before. There is no magic trick to winning the Impact League, but I think our victory shows what is possible with hard work, innovation and creativity, and we have done the small things really well and consistently. Since day one this season, we have approached the Impact League with the same belief, intensity and vigor that we approach racing in SailGP."

The top young male and female sailing athletes from around the world have also converged on San Francisco Bay to compete for the ultimate prize at the WASZP Grand Final - Championship of Champions. The WASZP Grand Final is the culmination of SailGP's Inspire Racing x WASZP series and offers the next generation of sailors an unparalleled opportunity to compete at the highest level.

On the water, racing starts at 2.30pm local time on May 6 and is available to watch on CBS Sports and streamed live on YouTube all weekend, to find out more on how to watch around the world, go to SailGP.com/Watch.

SAILGP SEASON 3 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (after ten events) //

1 // Australia // 84 points
2 // New Zealand // 73 points
3 // France // 69 points
4 // Great Britain // 68 points
5 // Denmark // 60 points
6 // Canada // 59 points
7 // United States // 57 points
8 // Switzerland // 29 points
9 // Spain // 29 points

*United States penalized 4 season points
*New Zealand penalized 4 season points
*Switzerland penalized 2 season points
*Spain penalized 2 season points

SAILGP SEASON 3 FINAL IMPACT LEAGUE STANDINGS //

1 // Denmark // 1565 points
2 // New Zealand // 1560 points
3 // Great Britain // 1516 points

Related Articles

Diego Botin on 'getting back in the game'
After a slow start to SailGP Season 5 Young guns Spain may have swept to victory last season, stealing the Season 4 Championship title from under the noses of league heavyweights Australia and New Zealand, but they began the 2025 Season with a string of mixed results. Posted on 4 May
Grael reflects on Mubadala Brazil's first season
Challenging conditions, big goals and gaining the team's trust It's been a whirlwind first season for Mubadala Brazil so far. The team, led by SailGP's first female driver and double Olympic champion Martine Grael, entered the league alongside Red Bull Italy at the start of the season. Posted on 19 Apr
Australia expands to two events
For 2026 Rolex SailGP Championship SailGP, the global sail racing championship, has today revealed an expanded Australian footprint, with two events - Perth and Sydney - confirmed among the first 2026 Season destinations. Posted on 16 Apr
SailGP Rio event cancelled
After identifying a defect in select wingsails across the F50 fleet After identifying a defect in select wingsails across the F50 fleet, SailGP has made the difficult decision to cancel next month's Rio event (May 3-4) in order to facilitate required repairs ahead of New York and the remainder of the 2025 Season. Posted on 10 Apr
Australia SailGP Team wing collapse video
Looking at all the angles of the incident in San Francisco With salvage under way, the SailGP Technical Team will now begin an in-depth analysis to determine what caused the incident. Posted on 24 Mar
Spain SailGP Team snags San Francisco repeat
While Australia suffers 'heartbreaking' wing collapse Spain has triumphed once again in San Francisco, defeating NorthStar Canada (2nd) and France (3rd) to become the fifth winner in five events this season. Posted on 24 Mar
SailGP: Flying Roos dismasted in Pre-start
The Flying Roos (AUS) broke their wingsail in the final seconds leading up to the start of Race 7 The Flying Roos (AUS) broke their wingsail in the final seconds leading up to the start of Race 7 of the Oracle SailGP Regatta in San Francisco. Conditions at the time were a rising breeze of 10-15kts - well within the capability of the 24metre tall rig. Posted on 23 Mar
NorthStar Canada SailGP Team flies to the top
On Day 1 of Oracle San Francisco Sail Grand Prix NorthStar Canada picked up where they left off, leading the fleet with 35 points after a dynamic first day of the Oracle San Francisco Sail Grand Prix. Driver Giles Scott enjoyed three podium finishes - including two wins - in the first four fleet races. Posted on 23 Mar
SailGP: Bravery required in San Francisco
"San Francisco conditions require a lot of bravery' to compete" - Slingsby This weekend's racing venue of San Francisco poses the ‘most extreme conditions of the circuit', which require ‘a lot of bravery' to compete, Australia driver Tom Slingsby remarked at this morning's media conference in San Franciso. Posted on 21 Mar
SailGP: Denmark out for San Francisco
Damage sustained in Los Angeles was deemed too extensive to repair in time for the weekend. The Rockwool Denmark Racing SailGP Team will not compete in San Francisco after damage sustained in Los Angeles was deemed too extensive to repair in time for the weekend. Posted on 21 Mar