SailGP Venue vs. Revenue
by Mark Jardine 13 Apr 18:00 BST
Brazil skyline - Race Day 1 of the ENEL Rio Sail Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - April 11, 2025 © Ricardo Pinto/SailGP
SailGP finally got to land in South America, with the inaugural Rio Sail Grand Prix taking place over the weekend.
The debut was supposed to be in 2025, but after the collapse of the Australia team's wingsail in San Francisco, structural improvements were needed throughout the entire fleet and it was judged that they couldn't complete the work in time for the Brazilian event that year.
There's no doubt that Rio pulled out all the stops for the event, and the grandstand was buzzing with the famous samba atmosphere.
SailGP has been revolutionary for sailing in many aspects, and provides a visual spectacle unlike any other in the sport. Seeing the fleet of thirteen F50s racing (the fourteenth, the New Zealand Black Foils, are having a new boat built after their catastrophic collision) is impressive regardless of whether you're a sailor or not.
The problem with 'Grandstand' sailing though, is the race area is defined well in advance of the event, as it has to take place in front of the spectators, regardless of the prevailing conditions. This is where the conflicts between sport and entertainment become complex, and with SailGP, it is the entertainment which is winning out.
To purists, this is an anathema: Sailing should always be on as fair a racecourse as possible, and if the fleet needs to go offshore to get an even wind, then so be it. But let's get this straight, SailGP is an entertainment product. Fair is very low down in the priority list for a venue, and well behind getting a suitable location for the spectators, corporate hospitality, and iconic backgrounds.
For the TV producers, having Sugarloaf Mountain and the 30-metre tall Art Deco statue of Christ the Redeemer framing the fleet is the priority, regardless of whether half the fleet is in full send mode and the others are wallowing in no wind.
Guanabara Bay is huge, but the Rio Sail Grand Prix race area was tiny, with geography playing a huge part in when and where the wind would appear, and disappear. Reading this required a sixth sense, even if you were a local, and a fair amount of luck on top of that. There was wind enough to get foiling at pace at times, but the vast holes could rapidly turn the fleet upside-down, with teams going from hero to zero in an instant.
That said, Tom Slingsby's Australian team on the Bonds Flying Roos served up a masterclass. Their Saturday scoreline of 2nd, 8th, 3rd, 3rd put them in the lead overnight, and their Sunday was simply flawless, winning each of the fleet races and then the podium final. On a race course where consistency was nearly impossible to find, they put it together perfectly, and even the 'Wind Whisperer' Nathan Outteridge couldn't stop him.
The pressure was on Slingsby, especially after celebrity co-owners of the team - Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman - posted an amusing video poking fun at him. "I'm really pleased with the team. We've brought together a group with huge potential, and although we hadn't fully clicked before today, we finally showed what we're capable of when everything comes together. It's a really satisfying feeling — not just as a driver, but from a broader perspective. It was also special to get this first win with Goobs [Iain Jensen]. We go way back, so sharing that moment meant a lot," said Slingsby.
Artemis SailGP Team driver Nathan Outteridge was similarly happy with third place for the team in their first season, "We made the final, which is a great step forward. Today was really tricky with the gusty conditions and being a bit overpowered on the 27.5-meter wing, but overall we're really happy. It's our first final as a team, so that's something positive to build on for the rest of the season."
SailGP is already having influence on the wider world of sailing. In Olympic circles, medal races were already in place well before the league's inception, but the 'winner takes all' format we first saw partially introduced at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and set to be expanded across all the Olympic disciplines during Los Angeles 2028, can be partially attributed to what we see in the F50s. Yes, there are other reasons, such as the perceived lack of attention span in the social media age, and the Olympic TV stakeholders wanting a gold medal moment, but there's no doubt SailGP is part of the mix.
I'm conflicted as to whether it's a problem for the wider sport. At my local little club in Keyhaven, the Wednesday evening racing, which started just last week, is the best supported and, in my opinion, the most fun. We have our own equivalent of the SailGP reaching start, with the fleet spread across the river, just yards from the clubhouse.
After dodging the moored fishing boats, we rounded a gate in the shadow of the iconic Hurst Castle in almost made-for-TV style. The wind was very light - we seem to have two modes in the western Solent, zephyr or howling - and place changes were pretty much continuous throughout the race. The second lap was decided to be over-ambitious, especially with the ebbing tide beginning to hum, so the shortened course flag was raised and the happy sailors decamped to the clubhouse for a pie and a pint.
I enjoy the Sunday racing on a more traditional course out in the Solent just as much, but the fact we have the two styles of racing is great. Is our Wednesday evening racing an entertainment product? It was certainly entertaining to do. The question of whether the Olympics are now more of an entertainment product than a sporting one is a wider one, and will continue to be debated in the lead-up to LA 2028.
For SailGP, the audience and partnership potential of a venue will continue to win out over its suitability for sailing. As sailors, we can make our own decisions as to whether we accept that, or switch off. From a purely technological standpoint, it's hugely impressive how light a wind an F50 can now foil in, with the T-foils and the new rig, but watching your team get flushed down the drain in a calm patch is frustrating to say the least.
Mark Jardine
Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com Managing Editor