San Francisco - January 27, 2022 - SailGp has announced a new partnership with Mubadala Investment Company as Title Partner of the Season 2 Grand Final. The Mubadala United States Sail Grand Prix is the culmination of the world's most exciting racing on-water and will take place in San Francisco on March 26-27, 2022.
The Mubadala United States Grand Prix partnership will highlight SailGp and Mubadala's shared commitment to the city of San Francisco and build a lasting sport and purpose-driven impact within the local community and beyond. Mubadala will also be the presenting partner of SailGp Inspire Learning, the league's community outreach program which works to leave a positive legacy and build a sustainable sport by providing equal gender, life-changing opportunities and new career pathways for all and aims to impact 10,000 young people by 2025.
As part of SailGp's continuous efforts to accelerate inclusion in sailing by promoting diversity and inclusion – through SailGp's better sport strategy – the San Francisco Inspire Learning program has been designed to connect more than 1,200 young people with educational and teamwork experiences in the month leading up to the race weekend.
Ibrahim Ajami, Head of Ventures and Growth, Mubadala said: "We are proud to sponsor the Grand Final of SailGp. We are excited about this partnership and see a strong resonance between Mubadala and SailGp. As a responsible investor, we are committed to making lasting contributions in the communities where we invest. We look forward to working together to make San Francisco's final one of the most impactful yet."
Mubadala is a global investment company headquartered in Abu Dhabi. In 2017, its wholly owned asset management subsidiary, Mubadala Capital, opened a San Francisco office to oversee its US ventures business.
The Mubadala United States Sail Grand Prix will include the thrilling culmination to an incredible Season 2. Eight national teams from Australia, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and the United States – featuring the sport's top athletes – have competed in seven iconic venues around the globe. Both Tom Slingsby's Australia and Jimmy Spithill's U.S. team have already earned a place in the Grand Final, and the final grand prix event in San Francisco will determine the third and final team on the starting line to vie for the US $1 million grand final race.
Also crowned in San Francisco will be the winner of the innovative Impact League – a world-first, integrated initiative to make sustainability essential to the fabric of sports and accelerate the transition to clean energy. A second leaderboard has been created that will see all of its international teams compete for two podiums – one for the planet and one for sports performance.
The Impact League forms part of SailGP's purpose-led agenda to redefine the sport and in doing so, act responsibly as the first climate-positive sports property. Powered by nature, SailGp intends to set new sustainability standards and accelerate the transition to clean energy. From its inception in 2019, SailGp has been measuring, reducing and contributing its entire carbon footprint and has set an ambitious target of a 55 percent reduction of its carbon footprint – based on science – by 2025, as well as committing to being fully powered by nature both on shore and on the water within the same timeframe.
SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts said: "SailGp and Mubadala share like-minded goals for a better future, so we are excited that they have joined as title partner for the Grand Final in San Francisco. Mubadala's commitment to making a positive impact on communities around the world aligns with our SailGp Inspire program – driving toward a better sport and a better planet. Together we look forward to making a positive impact on the local community in San Francisco around our season finale."