Ahead of the sixth event in the global racing league’s second season in Cadiz - Andalucía, the Great Britain SailGP Team has become the first of the existing eight SailGP teams to evolve to a third party owned franchise with Ben Ainslie, the world’s most successful Olympic sailor and America’s Cup winner, taking majority ownership of the team.
This announcement comes with further news that two additional new franchise teams will be joining the league for Season 3, the first of which was announced as a Swiss team on September 6th in Geneva. It also comes as news of a bid to host an Irish stage of the Tour at Dun Laoghaire or Cork Harbour.
When Ainslie entered SailGP for Season 2, he secured an option from Russell Coutts and Larry Ellison to take ownership of the team franchise if the team’s running costs and liabilities were covered in full. Through an investment from Chris Bake this option has been exercised and Ainslie and Bake now take majority ownership of the team. Larry Ellison’s Oracle Racing Inc retain a minority equity in the team.
Sir Ben Ainslie
The greater commercial opportunities owning the majority of the Great Britain SailGP Team franchise provide were one of the key drivers behind Ainslie’s and Bake’s investment, with the pure sporting challenge enhanced by SailGP’s innovative sustainability and pathway programmes.
SailGP resumes in Cadiz, Spain for the final event of the European leg of the season on 9-10 October 2021.
