SailGP Auckland: Big changes to racing trialled on Waitematā Harbour; won’t be implemented over weekend

SailGP have explored a new split-fleet race format in the lead-up to its Auckland event, trialling the idea during a training session this afternoon as the league prepares for the future.

With the fleet set to expand to 12 teams this season and planning to bring more teams on in seasons to come, the league is looking for ways to adapt its racing to be adaptable to a growing fleet and varying venues and conditions; keeping a fan-centric product at heart while sticking to the set 90-minute broadcast window.

Currently, the teams all take to the water for five all-in fleet races before the top three progress into the event’s podium race. This will continue in the Auckland event proper.

SailGP chief executive Sir Russell Coutts told the Herald the proposed new format in its current state would see teams split into two groups of six, seeded on the season championship standings. Each group will compete in two races on both Saturday and Sunday, with the top two teams in each then moving on to contest the podium race.

SailGP had the option to implement the new format for the Auckland regatta this weekend, however, they only had Thursday’s practice window to run a trial and could not commit to it with such a short turnaround.

“We definitely are going to split into two groups in future years, no doubt,” Coutts said.

“We can’t race 14 teams on one of these courses. We just can’t.”

Because the league wants to fit the new format into the broadcast window, it would not mean a longer race period for regattas.

The trial idea would, however, mean there would be nine races in that span rather than the current six.

“Obviously there’s a lot to get right with that. We’ve got to get the broadcast run sheet right and get all the scoring right and the graphics and so forth for the broadcast,” Coutts said.

“Essentially, that’s with the future in mind where we expand to a seven-and-seven-team format or an eight-and-eight-team format over the next seasons, so we do want to get that trial in place early.

“There’s a lot to do in that 90-minute window for broadcast where we’ve got some really significant free-to-air broadcasters now all over the world, so clearly that’s a major consideration with the broadcast run sheet and fitting in the ad breaks at the right times and so forth, so you don’t compromise the broadcast product.”

The Auckland event will already be a milestone moment for the global foiling league, with the fleet set to race with the new high-speed foils which could see the boats reach speeds of 100 km/h in the right conditions.

“If we get a fresh or even a strong southwesterly, I’m not kidding you, it’ll probably be the event of the year in terms of a SailGP event,” Coutts said.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.