The Race for the Rolex SailGP Championship begins this weekend in Dubai

This weekend, the most exciting racing on water returns to the iconic city of Dubai – marking the official start of SailGP’s most expansive season to date. The Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix presented by P&O Marinas is set to be a spectacular showdown, with old rivalries on display, big personalities joining the fleet, and new global partners coming onboard.

The expanded 2025 Season will bring a new era of the best high-speed, high-tech racing – with even more on the line. This morning, SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts unveiled an increased bonus prize purse of USD $12.8 million up for grabs across the season.

Coutts said, “I am pleased to reveal the prize money has grown to $12.8 million – a number we intend to increase as we continue to grow commercially. The stakes are high and the rewards for achieving top performance are higher. Which means we can attract - and retain - the sport’s brightest stars, while inspiring up and coming future athletes to work hard to gain a place in one of these teams.”

The Rolex SailGP Championship welcomes two new nations this weekend – the Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team and Red Bull Italy. The largest fleet to date, 11 teams are primed for racing. France will miss the Dubai event, selecting to join the fleet in Auckland (the second event of the season), stepping into the league’s newest F50 catamaran – currently under accelerated development. France will be awarded compensatory points for the Dubai event.

Among the new teams is one historic appointment. Driving for Brazil, Martine Grael will be the first woman to race in the Rolex SailGP Championship. Commenting on the team’s preparations heading into the weekend, Grael said: “We’re doing as much as we can here – going into our eighth day on the water. We’re as prepared as we can be with great learning here so far in Dubai. We’ve been foiling everyday and expecting good racing this weekend.”

Fellow gold medalist Ruggero Tita will drive for the league’s other new nation, the Red Bull Italy SailGP Team, while Emirates GBR welcomes Dylan Fletcher back into the driver’s seat. SailGP heavyweights Australia and New Zealand have also found themselves with new talent on the roster after losing foundational team members in a highly-active transfer season. Australia’s Kyle Langford (wing trimmer) and New Zealand’s Andy Maloney (flight controller) have both taken up roles in newly-sold teams, Italy and Brazil, respectively.

While the trans-Tasman rivals have both made experienced appointments – Chris Draper in Australia and Leo Takahashi in New Zealand – three-time SailGP champion Tom Slingsby said the loss of ‘King Kyle’ could not be overlooked.

“For sure it’s tough for us losing Kyle but that’s the way the sport is going,” said Slingsby. “We made offers to keep him and unfortunately for us, he was made better offers and he had to do what’s right for him and his family. Losing a key person like that is going to be tough for our team.”

It all starts tomorrow, with live racing starting at 1400-1530 Gulf Time. Set to be a flagship event on the Middle East sporting calendar, the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix, will provide the ultimate blend of sport and spectacle – with close-to-shore stadium racing, and live apres-sail entertainment on both Saturday (Tinie Tempah) and Sunday (Craig David).