The Rolex SailGP Championship Circuit returns to the Solent with the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix taking place at Portsmouth UK on 25 and 26 July 2026.
This is the sixth season of the SailGP race circuit and the second time it has visited Portsmouth – other British venues have included Cowes and Plymouth. Portsmouth is event eight on the 13 strong Rolex SailGP Circuit and the first of the Europe venues before the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi in November.
Of course each of the 13 venues requires on-site preparation for the spectators – up to 20,000 expected for the Portsmouth event – and the après-sail entertainment. While the race team boats and equipment are freighted between venues on a race circuit Calendar designed for global flow – “chasing the sun” – to minimize transit and reduce complexity.
Each F50 race boat is transported in 3 containers:
- 1 for the wing mast
- 1 for hull, pod, and primary components
- 1 for the second hull, doubling as a team office onsite
This presently requires shipping 115 containers between venues, and on arrival requires 6 to 8 days to fully construct the race team venue and their F50 hulls.
Meanwhile the venue stand infrastructure will have been built locally. The size and time required varying with the location, in the case of Portsmouth around two weeks to install a fully operating stadium from scratch.
The race teams get one practice race day ahead of the two days of competitive racing, so any equipment malfunction or race course incidents which sideline them for even one race, take a big toll on their event fleet position and the overall season championship results – not forgetting the prize money.
- Each of the 13 events awards $400,000 to the winner, $260,000 for second place, and $140,000 for third.
- The team with the highest points at the end of the season earns an additional $400,000.
- The season concludes with a winner-takes-all three-boat Grand Final race, where the winning team claims $2 million USD.
Last year Emirates GBR won the $2M Grand Final, the $400k season points and various individual events for a $4.4 million (about £3 million) total prizemoney. This year the British team are tied in second place on the leaderboard with Spain’s Los Gallos.
And then its a five day complete derig and pack-down and off to the next event venue. In this case that will be the ROCKWOOL Germany Sail Grand Prix in Sassnitz on the 22-23 August.
Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix Portsmouth
Thirteen national teams are competing at Portsmouth in up to four races each day . . . the top three then race a final winner-takes-all race on the Sunday to decide Grand Prix winner.
Being a sailing event everything hinges on the weather and with it the performance level of the foiling F50 multihulls. SailGP has developed a selection of wing masts and foils that increase the viable racing window over a range of wind and sea conditions.
In extreme conditions the fleet may be split to improve crew safety on the compact race circuit. At the other end of the weather window, the teams may reduce the crew number to improve foiling performance.
The event also features a premium hospitality package and après-sail entertainment. This year featuring Craig David and Jess Glynne as they headline SailGP’s Après-Sail entertainment in Portsmouth.
Grammy Award-winning Jess Glynne will take to the stage on Saturday 25th, while multi-platinum selling artist and BRIT award nominee Craig David will close the weekend out on Sunday 26th with his legendary TS5 DJ set.
Performances will take place on the main stage in front of the Waterfront Grandstands, with fans also able to follow the action live on screens across the Race Stadium.
SailGP Weekend Schedule
RACE DAY 1 – SATURDAY, 25 JULY
Race Stadium Opening Hours 2pm – 7pm BST
Race Times 4:30pm – 6pm BST
RACE DAY 2 – SUNDAY, 26 JULY
Race Stadium Opening Hours 2pm – 7pm BST
Race Times 4:30pm – 6pm BST
More information and ticket applications available here . . .
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