SailGP

Valencia joins the SailGP calendar for the first time in 2026, one of two new stops added to the season alongside Perth. The two-day regatta is staged in the Poblats Marítims district, along the working port rather than the inland Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències waterfront most visitors associate with the city. As the tenth of thirteen rounds, it falls in the stretch run of the championship, arriving as the points race typically tightens before the season closes out in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in November. It's officially billed as the Spain Sail Grand Prix, a home event for Los Gallos SailGP Team, driven by Spanish sailor Diego Botín.

Round eleven moves inland to Lake Geneva, one of the few freshwater venues on the SailGP calendar rather than the saltwater harbors most stops use. Freshwater is less dense than seawater, which affects how the F50s foil, a variable race engineers account for in setup that doesn't come into play at most other stops on the calendar. It's a home race for the Switzerland SailGP Team, driven by Sébastien Schneiter, adding local stakes on top of the standings.

Dubai hosts the penultimate event of the 2026 season, round twelve of thirteen, at Mina Rashid Basin. With only the Abu Dhabi finale left afterward, this is typically where the championship picture sharpens: teams still in title contention are racing with little room left to make up points before the season decider. Dubai has been on the SailGP calendar since the league's early seasons, giving it one of the longer track records of any current venue.

Abu Dhabi closes the 2026 season as the Grand Final, the thirteenth and last round, at Mina Zayed. This is where the season championship is decided: the top three teams in the standings after twelve rounds advance to a winner-take-all match race for the title, while the rest of the fleet races out the season for placing and prize money. Abu Dhabi has hosted a title decider before — Emirates GBR, driven by Dylan Fletcher, won the championship here at the end of the 2024–25 season.

Hong Kong opens the 2027 season as a brand-new stop on the calendar, racing in Victoria Harbour against the city's skyline. As a debut venue, the surrounding towers create gusty, unpredictable wind patterns that most SailGP stops don't have to account for a genuine unknown for teams heading into round one of a new season. It's also the league's first competition stop in Hong Kong, part of SailGP's continued push into Asian markets.

Perth returns for a second season after debuting on the calendar in January 2026, racing off Fremantle's Mews Road waterfront. Western Australia's coast is known among sailors for consistent, strong sea breezes, which tend to produce faster, closer racing than lighter-wind venues elsewhere on the calendar. It's a home event for Bonds Flying Roos SailGP Team, Australia's most-decorated team in the series, driven by Tom Slingsby.

SailGP returns to San Francisco Bay, a venue with history in the series dating back to its early seasons — the Bay has previously hosted a season Grand Final. The Bay is known for strong, reliable afternoon winds funneled through the Golden Gate, which has historically produced some of the highest boat speeds recorded on the SailGP circuit. It's a home race for the United States SailGP Team, driven by Taylor Canfield.

Bermuda, which has hosted a SailGP season opener in a prior year, returns to the calendar for 2027 at Morgan's Point. The island's Great Sound has previously hosted major sailing events, including America's Cup racing, giving local organizers established course infrastructure to work with. Because of the island's size, the Bermuda stop typically draws a smaller spectator-boat fleet than larger city venues like New York or Dubai, a different viewing experience for anyone planning to watch from the water.

Halifax returns to the calendar after previously hosting a stop in an earlier season, racing out of its downtown harbor on Lower Water Street. Atlantic Canada's coastal winds are less predictable than the steadier conditions at some other venues, teams generally treat that variability as a leveling factor across the fleet rather than an advantage for any one crew. Halifax's return reflects a pattern in SailGP's recent scheduling: rotating back to markets that performed well rather than only chasing new ones.

New York is one of the more established stops on the SailGP calendar, with races run on the Hudson River against the Manhattan skyline. It's a recurring US market for the league alongside San Francisco, giving American fans two chances a season to see the fleet race close to shore. It's also a home event for the United States SailGP Team, adding local rivalry stakes on top of the standard championship points.

Portsmouth is the SailGP home race for Great Britain, run off Southsea Common on the Solent, waters with a long competitive sailing history, including America's Cup racing. Emirates GBR enters as the reigning season champion, so the home crowd is watching a title-holder defend rather than a team building momentum. The Solent's tidal currents and shifting winds are considered one of the more technical stretches of water on the calendar, rewarding tactics over raw boat speed.

Sassnitz, on the Baltic island of Rügen, is the home event for the Germany SailGP Team, presented by Deutsche Bank and driven by Erik Heil. It's one of the smaller markets on the SailGP calendar by population, a pattern the league has used elsewhere to build fan bases in newer markets rather than sticking only to major capitals. The Baltic Sea's conditions differ from the Mediterranean and Atlantic venues elsewhere on the calendar, with cooler water and typically more variable late-summer winds.

Valencia returns for a second consecutive season after joining the calendar in 2026, again racing out of the Poblats Marítims district. As a repeat venue, this event carries a different storyline than 2026's debut, Los Gallos SailGP Team gets a second home race to build on their result from the year before. Valencia's return also fits a broader shift in SailGP's scheduling toward multi-year hosting agreements, which the league has said help reduce travel logistics and give host cities more planning certainty.

Rome is a brand-new stop on the 2027 calendar, racing out of Ostia's Porto Turistico rather than central Rome, the city's actual coastline sits roughly 30 km from the historic center. It's a home event for Red Bull Italy SailGP Team, driven by Phil Robertson, giving Italy its first SailGP race on home water. Rome joins Hong Kong as one of two entirely new markets on the 2027 calendar, part of the league's continued geographic expansion.

Rio returns for a second season after SailGP's South American debut there in April 2026, again racing in Guanabara Bay off Praia do Flamengo. It remains the only South American stop on the calendar and falls in the closing stretch of the season, a similar late-season slot to its position on the 2026 calendar. It's the home event for Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team, driven by Martine Grael, whose family has a long competitive sailing history in Brazil.

Dubai closes the confirmed portion of the 2027 calendar, racing again from the Mina Rashid Cruise Terminal 2 site. As of this writing, SailGP hasn't publicly confirmed the date or venue for the 2027 Abu Dhabi Grand Final that typically follows Dubai, worth checking closer to the season before publishing that event as locked. Dubai's back-to-back scheduling ahead of the finale has become a consistent pattern for SailGP's UAE swing in recent seasons.