SailGP heads to the UAE for first double header in the Middle East

Championship returns to the UAE with back-to-back events in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for the first-time 

Dubai - October 18 2023 – In the wake of a thrilling weekend of racing in Cádiz, SailGP, one of the world’s fastest growing sports properties, is getting ready to arrive in the UAE for consecutive events across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Following a sell-out first year, the second Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix, presented by P&O Marinas, returns to Mina Rashid on December 9-10, 2023, before the league kicks off 2024 with the inaugural Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council, on January 13-14, 2024.

Season 4 is shaping up to be the league's most thrilling and extensive season yet, as the world’s most exciting racing on water comes back to Dubai for its next stop on the event calendar. This season of SailGP, ten national teams will be battling it out, each aboard identical hydrofoiling F50 catamarans, all primed for high-speed, high-tech racing action. Abu Dhabi’s historic Mina Zayed will host the inaugural Abu Dhabi event in partnership with SailGP’s Global Series Partner Mubadala Investment Group and Abu Dhabi Sports Council, bringing the series to a new city location. 

The recent final race at the Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía – Cádiz, saw Jimmy Spithill’s      United States overcome adversity to celebrate their first event victory of Season 4. The high-adrenaline event saw tens of thousands of people packed on the shoreline to witness 
the dramatic weekend of racing between the ten national teams – Australia, Canada, ROCKWOOL Denmark, France, Germany, Emirates GBR, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland and the United States – as they continue their battle for the championship trophy.

In SailGP, every race day is different. As the competition heats up and the teams battle it out on the water for the best performance, both athletes and boats are put to the ultimate test. The final day in Cádiz saw the United States overcame a penalty before the start to win by a large margin while  Nicolai Sehested’s ROCKWOOL Denmark      and Tom Slingsby’s Australia battled for second and third finishes. The strong competition from all ten nations       is set to continue in the UAE.

Australia SailGP Team wing trimmer Kyle Langford said: “We’re really excited to come to Dubai. The venue was awesome last year, we had really nice flat water which is perfect for the foiling boats, 12 knots of wind and we snuck away with a last-minute victory against the Brits and the French so we’re really excited to come back. We haven’t won in a while and that was a good venue for us. It’s definitely one of our favourites.”

Emirates GBR’s Sir Ben Ainslie commented: “We’re really looking forward to Dubai. We’re somewhat the home team with our fantastic partnership with Emirates so we’re really proud of that. We’re looking forward to racing in front of the home fans. It was a great event last year so we’re looking forward to more of the same.”