With less than a month to go until the 2025 Season opener in Dubai, SailGP has revealed its starting line-up and largest fleet yet. A total of 11 teams will race in Dubai on November 23/24, with debut performances from Mubadala Brazil and an incoming Italian team spearheaded by SailGP legend Jimmy Spithill. France meanwhile will sit out the first event as it waits for its in-progress F50 to be completed, and will join the fleet in Auckland in January 2025.
Elsewhere, teams have been unveiling their crew line-ups, with Switzerland announcing an almost brand new crew and Mubadala Brazil presenting an experienced roster after a series of high-profile transfers, including New Zealand flight controller Andy Maloney. We talk to Maloney about leaving the Black Foils and a future with Brazil where ‘the sky’s the limit’.
The Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix presented by P&O Marinas on November 23/24 will host the debut racing performances of two new nations - Brazil and Italy, while France will sit out the first event.
The full 12-team line up will be in place from Auckland in January 2025, where France will compete in the 12th F50, which is currently under accelerated development in New Zealand and SailGP Technologies in Southampton UK.
The team’s potential new ownership group opted to wait for the league’s newest F50 and miss the first event, for which France will be awarded compensatory points. Despite this, the team will attend the season launch in Dubai and take part in a series of scheduled training days post-racing.
This means that both Season 4 Champions Spain and New Zealand’s Black Foils will compete in the upcoming championship, with commercial discussions around both league-owned teams continuing.
Led by former SailGP star Jimmy Spithill, Italy is the second new national team to join SailGP this season. Its confirmation comes a year after Spithill announced his intention to form the team after leaving the United States team, which he drove for over two seasons. More details on the Italy SailGP Team will follow in the coming weeks, including the full athlete line-up.
The Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team joins Italy on the start line, driven by double Olympic champion Martine Grael. Grael will be surrounded by a roster of new and experienced SailGP athletes, including a handful of high-profile transfers.
Speaking about the news, SailGP managing director Andrew Thompson said the ‘largest-ever national fleet’ in Dubai signals ‘a period of rapid expansion for the league’, with ‘multiple team sales, new host venues and some very exciting new global partnerships’ to be announced.
“Final team lineups demonstrate we’re attracting and retaining the sport’s best talent, with the top SailGP athletes recognized as the leading stars in this new era of sail racing. In addition to a competitive transfer market, we’re excited to confirm a handful of new team athlete signings over the coming weeks,” he said.
SailGP has also confirmed a new scoring system for the upcoming season, which will only award points to teams who finish 1-10 in qualifying fleet races and overall event results. The 2025 Season also promises more prize money for SailGP athletes, with the league signaling intentions to significantly increase the overall purse up for grabs across the season, which totaled US $7million in Season 4 – the largest in the sport.