The 2021–22 SailGP Championship was the second season of the SailGP championship. Originally due to be contested in 2020, the season was postponed to 2021 after the first round in Sydney due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and was then extended into the early months of 2022.

The championship was again won by the Australian team. New Zealand was the inaugural winner of the Impact League.

Entries +TeamHelmsmanRounds Australia SailGP Team Tom Slingsby1–8 Denmark SailGP Team presented by Rockwool Nicolai Sehested1–8 France SailGP Team Billy Besson1–5 Quentin Delapierre6–8 Ben Ainslie1, 4–8 Paul Goodison2–3 Japan SailGP Team Nathan Outteridge1–8 New Zealand SailGP Team Peter Burling1, 4–8 Arnaud Psarofaghis2–3 Spain SailGP Team Phil Robertson1–7 Jordi Xammar8 United States SailGP Team Rome KirbyNone Jimmy Spithill1–8Citations:

Team changes After only one season, China left the championship. Denmark and Spain joined the championship in Sydney, while New Zealand entered in Bermuda.

Calendar +HostTitleDatesWinning teamHC Sydney, AustraliaSydney Sail Grand PrixFebruary 28–29, 2020 Great Britain1 BermudaBermuda Sail Grand Prix presented by Hamilton PrincessApril 23–25, 2021 Great Britain– New York City, USANew York Sail Grand PrixJune 4–5, 2021Removed2 Taranto, ItalyItaly Sail Grand Prix | TarantoJune 5–6, 2021 Japan3 Plymouth, EnglandGreat Britain Sail Grand Prix | PlymouthJuly 17–18, 2021 Australia4 Aarhus, DenmarkRockwool Denmark Sail Grand Prix | AarhusAugust 20–21, 2021 Australia5 Saint-Tropez, FranceFrance Sail Grand Prix | Saint-TropezSeptember 11–12, 2021 Japan6 Cádiz, SpainSpain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía - Cádiz October 9–10, 2021 Australia7 Sydney, AustraliaAustralia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney presented by KPMGDecember 17–18, 2021 Australia– Christchurch, New ZealandNew Zealand Sail Grand PrixJanuary 29–30, 2022Removed8 San Francisco, USAMubadala United States Sail Grand Prix | San FranciscoMarch 26–27, 2022 AustraliaCitations: Although the opening round in Sydney proceeded as planned, results from the race were declared void upon the postponement of the season until 2021. Nine races were expected in the expanded calendar, and eight were announced before the addition of a new Sydney round. The New Zealand event was removed after organisers were denied permission to enter the country.

Season

Sydney The season originally began in Sydney with new teams Spain and Denmark joining, with the former coming second in several fleet races. The British team dominated the opening round ahead of 2019 champions Australia and led the standings 47 to 42 points, with Japan in third on 39 points. Both Spain and Denmark received penalties, Spain for contact with the French boat and Denmark for a rule infringement. However, the eventual postponement of the season to 2021–22 reset the standings.

Results TeamSYDPoints12345F1 Great Britain111141472 Australia235212423 Japan34333394 Spain5224231546455316 Denmark75676227 France6DNSDNS6714Citation:

Round 1: Bermuda New Zealand joined the resumed season in Bermuda, where the first day of racing was brought forward to the Friday to avoid poor conditions on Saturday. The Australian team won the first three races, with Britain finishing farther back in the field in the first two races while being penalised in the first race for cutting off the US team. Japan heavily collided with the US in the fourth race which the British team ultimately won, while the Australians won the fifth. Neither the US nor Japan finished race four and neither started race five. This meant that Australia, Great Britain and France progressed to the final, which Britain won.

Round 2: Taranto The Italian SailGP saw the introduction of harsher penalties for teams involved in collisions after the incident involving the US and Japanese teams in Bermuda. The Australian team suffered hydraulic failure in the first race and retired. The US team won the first and third fleet races with Japan winning the second. On the second day, New Zealand won the fourth fleet race while Japan won the fifth fleet race. The US, Japan, and Spain qualified for the final, which Japan won. This was the first SailGP final the Australian team did not qualify for. During the final, the US suffered an impact with a submerged object in the water which damaged their rudder, causing it to break down.

Round 3: Plymouth Most teams competed with substitute sailors at the Plymouth regatta due to 2020 Summer Olympics commitments. The first two races were won by the Australian team. In the third race, the US team narrowly avoided a collision with the Spanish boat at the race start. Spain was disqualified for the manoeuvre, the first time any competitor had been disqualified in the championship. The US went on to win the third race. Japan won the fourth fleet race and Great Britain the fifth, leaving France, the US, and Australia to compete in the final. Australia won the event, moving them to first place in the championship, drawn on points with Great Britain.

Round 4: Aarhus

Spain capsized their F50 before the first fleet race and sustained significant damage to the boat's foil. As a result, they did not compete in the first day's races. Denmark won the first fleet race, taking their first victory in the series at their home event. The second fleet race was won by the US team, and the third by the UK. Japan won the fourth and fifth, and were joined by Australia and the UK for the final. Australia won the final race, their second victory of the season.

Round 5: Saint-Tropez Great Britain won the first fleet race for the French round, with the US winning the next two. Championship leader Australia suffered hydraulic and electrical failures and consistently finished in the last few positions. Japan won the fourth race and Denmark the fifth, with the former also winning the final to take the championship lead.

Round 6: Cádiz The first fleet race was won by Great Britain, with Spain winning on home waters in the second race. The US won the final race of day one. Before the beginning of the second day's racing, the Spanish capsized and caused substantial damage to the F50's wing. Spain was unable to start any of the remaining races, which were won by New Zealand and Australia, with Australia, Great Britain, and the US making the final. Great Britain capsized in the final, allowing Australia to take the win. For the first time of the season, female competitors joined each boat as part of the Female Halfway program.

Round 7: Sydney

Round 8: San Francisco

Results

Points were awarded per race for the round leaderboard, with 8 points for the winner, 7 points for second place, 6 points for third, and so on.

Each event hosted multiple races, with the three highest scoring teams after each round facing off to decide the podium order. The winner of that final race won the event, with the final standings of the event leaderboard used to award points for the championship standings, with the winner awarded 10 points, second awarded 9, and so on. The three highest scoring teams at the end of the season competed one-on-one with the winning team awarded the championship. +TeamBMUTRNPLYAARSTPCDZSYDSFNPoints12345F12345F12345F12345F12345F12345F12345F12345GF1 Australia111212DNF685211774122527186686242411371421243211652 Japan325DNFDNS213311585175361122271714256371DNF1162164259 (60)3463DNFDNS141283251463713555117423513526323425755DNF3584 Great Britain77212163764872314514231583517422DNF24DNFWHWH164325 New Zealand688453851766428362834332856816585233581347 (48)6 Denmark8576675643726531476867251633574547541675457 Spain5363342475244DSQ55DNSDNSDNS34344623716DNSDNS1236638328DNF42 (44)8 France24454357286333822674767854388774866577874639 (40)Citations: Notes Great Britain was penalised four points in the championship. Spain was penalised two points in the championship. France was penalised one point in the championship. Japan was penalised one point in the championship. New Zealand was penalised one point in the championship.

Impact League As part of SailGP's sustainability initiatives, the championship introduced a second leaderboard on which teams compete to have the greatest improvement in the sustainability of the sport. Teams are externally audited after each round against 10 criteria, with the top three ranked teams awarded prize money to be donated to the teams' sustainability partners.

Standings +TeamBMUTRNPLYAARSTPCDZSYDSFNPoints1 New Zealand8913316316517716817218012462 Great Britain5413415717616516116617711923 Australia6011815316016417416816411614 Spain829914414514915614717610945 France7010114116415012016916610816 Japan2681152140156169158166104873811614314114213314816310248 Denmark75119119102125144139145967Citation:

Inspire Racing SailGP, in partnership with Waszp, created Inspire Racing to make foiling more accessible to young sailors, give them opportunity to experience a large sailing competition in all aspects, including racing in front of huge SailGP crowds.

LocationWinnersRunner-up3rd place Taranto Zero Valerio Marchesini Richard Schultheis Mattia Cesana Plymouth Zak Blomeley Matt Beck Fin Armstrong Aarhus Lennart Frohmann Magnus Frohmann Malthe Ebdrup Saint-Tropez Eliott Savelon Charlie Cullen Eliott Coville Cádiz Jaime Framis Harguindey Quique Urios Salinas Dani Cabré Burniol Sydney Jack Ferguson Keizo Tomishima Hugo Allison San Francisco - Final Sean Herbert Hattie Rogers Jaime Framis Harguindey Mathilde Robertstad Eliott Savelon Pearl LattanziCitations:

Notes

References

External links SailGP website