- San Francisco is the final event of SailGP Season 3
- Racecourse set between Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island
- Swiss SailGP Team started racing in SailGP's global league last May
Swiss SailGP Team will wrap up its first season of competing in SailGP’s global league this weekend, with two days of racing at the Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final (6 - 7 May). The team will race it’s F50 race boat, Eiger, on San Francisco's Bay, between the city’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island.
It will be a late night for fans in Switzerland looking to tune in and watch the racing. The action will be streamed live on Blue Sport from 11.30pm – 1:00am CEST (2.30 – 4:00pm PDT). Replays will also be shown on Blue Sport throughout both race days.
Season 3’s final instalment marks the 11th event within the year for the Swiss. Since the season opener in Bermuda back in May 2022, the team has raced in the USA, Europe, UAE, Southeast Asia and Australasia. Check out the full Season 3 calendar HERE.
Switzerland SailGP Team CEO Tanguy Cariou said: ‘It’s quite impressive to think we are heading into our final event of Season 3 this weekend when this time last year we were only just beginning!
There’s no fast track to competing in this league. We didn't achieve the results that we had hoped for, but we are already looking forward to Season 4 and we really want to perform and be a strong contender.
We're happy to be here in San Francisco, it's a nice city with a great atmosphere. The team is going to fight hard to have a successful final event of the season.”
The team hit the water today to line up against the fleet for a series of official practice races. The crew onboard the Swiss F50 is almost the same as the New Zealand Sail Grand Prix back in March; Glenn Ashby (AUS) races in the wing trimmer role with Jason Saunders (NZL) in the flight controller position. Swiss sailors Laurane Mettraux (strategist), Julien Rolaz (G1), Arthur Cevey (G1) and Jérémy Bachelin (G2) make up the crew. Nathan Outteridge continues to support the team as sailing advisor.
Switzerland SailGP Team driver Sébastien Schneiter said: “San Francisco Bay is one of the most iconic sailing racecourses in the world and it’s exciting for us to be out here racing this weekend.
Our first season in SailGP has been pretty fantastic and quite an experience. But as a new team to jump into a league where other teams have been training and competing for a few years has been really challenging at times, there's been a lot of catching up to do!
We've shown we can get some good results and have some solid regattas and for us this weekend it's all about being consistent and aiming to be in the top half of the leader board. We're in a fight with Spain, which is going to be quite interesting too.
We're thinking a lot about next season already, but for sure, no one wants to finish last. For us, the goal is to finish the season strong and show what we will next year. We have some high ambitions, we want to do better."
Five fleet races will take place this weekend followed by a three-boat, winner-takes-all Grand Final, featuring the highest placed teams of the season. Tom Slingsby’s Australia is the only team currently to have cemented their place in the showdown. New Zealand, in second place, looks set to join them and it's close between the French and British to be the third team in the mix.
The Mubadala SailGP Season 3 Grand Final takes place in San Francisco on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 May. Racing takes place from 11:30pm - 1:00am (CEST) / 2.30 - 4:00pm (PDT) both race days.
