SailGP has confirmed that it will reschedule all remaining Season 2 events to 2021 in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – and in order to ensure the safety of all involved in the global racing league.
The decision, announced on Monday, sees SailGP confirm new 2021 dates for the San Francisco and New York SailGP events recently cancelled. SailGP is currently in discussions to reschedule the remaining two events of 2020 – which were due to take place in Cowes, UK and Copenhagen, Denmark in August and September, respectively – to next year.
Season 2 is set to be expanded from five to at least seven events, beginning in April 2021 and ending sometime in early 2022. The only result of Season 2 so far, secured in Sydney, Australia in February, has been voided.
ROCKWOOL Group, main sponsor of the Denmark SailGP Team, and the now-postponed Copenhagen SailGP event, stands fully behind SailGP’s decision to reschedule the remainder of Season 2.
Mirella Vitale, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Communication and Public Affairs at the ROCKWOOL Group said: “We believe that the unpredictable nature of the global COVID-19 crisis means that a full reschedule of the season is the correct and sensible decision to take. Safety is paramount, and we have been closely involved and up to date with SailGP’s decision.
“ROCKWOOL remains fully committed to our SailGP sponsorship and the Denmark SailGP Team. We see this as a long-term partnership. ROCKWOOL is the main sponsor of the Danish team, and will continue to work closely with SailGP throughout the next three years. We are looking forward to the start of the new season in 2021, and bringing the world’s fastest sail racing to the most iconic cities around the globe, including Denmark.
“Until then, we will keep working with the Danish team and the wider SailGP organisation towards our common sustainability agendas and the empowerment of youth through the sport of sailing”.
ROCKWOOL and the Denmark SailGP Team athletes will continue to activate through the summer and autumn of this year with a range of activities including training and youth camps, workshops and academy sessions. Full plans will be revealed in due course.
Nicolai Sehested, helmsman for the Danish SailGP Team, said: “As athletes, we’re naturally disappointed not to be able to compete in SailGP this year, but we stand fully behind SailGP’s decision. We believe that this is the right move to keep everyone – spectators, shore crew and athletes – safe during these unprecedented times.
“We will use this hiatus to continue working together as a team and keep on preparing for the next SailGP events in 2021. We are very proud to represent ROCKWOOL and we’re looking forward to continuing to activate as a team throughout the rest of 2020 thanks to their support”.
The Sydney SailGP event, which took place in February 2020, was the Denmark SailGP Team’s debut outing in the world’s fastest sail racing league – and Sehested led his crew to an impressive performance despite going into the competition with less than 20 hours of sailing time onboard the foiling F50 boats.
He added: “We really enjoyed Sydney and came out of the event with a lot of learnings that we’re looking forward to putting into practice. As we are a new team, the rescheduling of the Season 2 events gives us more opportunity to optimise our team’s performance, and we hope that this can make us a contender for the top spots. We’re excited by the prospect of SailGP coming to Denmark for the first time in 2021, and hopefully we can look forward to racing in home waters once the Season 2 events calendar is fully confirmed.”
ABOUT SAILGP
SailGP is racing redefined. Established in 2018 and headquartered in London and New York, SailGP is an annual, global sports championship featuring bold, cutting-edge technology and awe-inspiring athleticism. The fan-centric, inshore racing that is powered by nature takes place in some of the most iconic harbors around the globe and culminates with a $1 million winner-takes-all match race. Rival national teams battle it out in identical supercharged F50 catamarans, engineered for intense racing at electrifying speeds exceeding 50 knots (nearly 60 mph/100 kph). Visit SailGP.com for more information
