We have finally waved goodbye to 2021, and with it the majority of SailGP Season 2.
Seven of the ongoing campaign’s eight events have now taken place, with the Australia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney Presented by KPMG closing the year in marvellous fashion.
With five events taking place in SailGP’s first full year of action (2019), and seven going ahead last year, 2022 promises to be the global championship’s biggest year to date - with a huge EIGHT events scheduled between March and November.
Taking in the last event of Season 2 - which also includes the Championship-deciding Grand Final - and the first seven events of Season 3, there is so much to look out for over the next 12 months.
Let’s take a look at just some of these highly-anticipated moments set to make 2022 a brilliant year for SailGP!
The Grand Final
Following the culmination of the AustraliaSGP in Sydney, we now have an agonising wait until the next - and last - event of Season 2.
The United States Sail Grand Prix is scheduled 26-27 March and will take place in San Francisco, one of our initial host cities from Season 1. SailGP’s return to The Golden City will see the final thrilling fleet racing of the campaign, before the top three teams in the season rankings go head-to-head for the Championship in the winner-takes-all Grand Final.
There is a chance for home team glory with the United States SailGP Team already guaranteed to take part in the Grand Final, having booked their place in the season-ending finale by qualifying at the AustraliaSGP - along with the Aussies themselves.
This means there is only one place left in the Grand Final, and we are sure to see some of the most thrilling racing of the season when we finally get to San Francisco.
Season 3 kicks off
There won’t be long to wait after the campaign closes in San Francisco for the action to get back under way, as Season 3 begins just over a month later!
We return to Bermuda - also the venue of the Season 2 opener - to kick off the new campaign, with six further events scheduled across the remainder of 2022.
To make things even better, the action will be coming thick and fast once the BermudaSGP arrives. In fact, we are averaging one event a month this year between May and November - with TWO planned for September alone!
An expanding fleet
2022 boasts not only more events in SailGP - but also more teams!
We have already announced the additions of Switzerland and Canada to the fleet, with the two new teams to begin racing at the Season 3 opener in Bermuda.
From six teams in Season 1 to eight teams in Season 2, our rapid growth continues with the SailGP fleet to comprise a remarkable TEN teams come the beginning of the new campaign.
The drama is already adrenaline-fuelled… we can’t wait to see what will happen when our biggest ever fleet takes to the water.
New venues in iconic cities
Our worldwide championship has already seen us visit a number of iconic locations, including Sydney, Saint-Tropez and San Francisco… and we’ll be adding even more luxurious host venues to our roster in 2022.
Shortly after kicking off Season 3 in Bermuda, SailGP will visit Chicago for the first time ever to race on Lake Michigan for the United States Sail Grand Prix | Chicago at Navy Pier, and then - following a second successive event in Plymouth, United Kingdom - we head to Copenhagen for the DenmarkSGP in August.
Returns to Season 2 host cities Saint-Tropez and Cadiz follow, before a debut visit to the UAE for the inaugural Dubai Sail Grand Prix in November… We couldn’t be more excited!
Even more big announcements
If you think that’s all for 2022, wait until you hear about the thrilling new announcements coming your way!
We can’t say too much here (spoilers!), but we can reveal that the Season 3 calendar is set to be expanded with even more events running into 2023!
Plus, there will be new athlete announcements before too long, with our new teams Switzerland and Canada having their crew lists completed before the kick-off of Season 3 in May.
