You can watch the Rolex SailGP Championship on TV, on YouTube, or in the stands at one of 13 Grand Prix races around the world, but the best place to watch a race is from the water. That was one of several important takeaways from a recent weekend in Halifax, where the young sport made its Canadian stop midway through the 2026 season. A flotilla of boats, from small sailboats to a 60-metre yacht, was bobbing just outside the race course, offering those on board a front-row vantage point. For those with the right connections, however (guests of Rolex, say), the best seats in the house are on board the chase boats, small tenders with powerful engines that weave alongside SailGP’s fleet of 50-foot carbon fibre catamarans as they jockey for position at up to 100km/h. That’s when you get a sense of just how intense this sport really is.
SailGP — as in Sail Grand Prix — is a global championship racing series in which 13 national teams compete in short, close-to-shore races in custom-built foiling catamarans. The sport is fast-paced, high-tech, and global, with teams including Canada, the United States, Switzerland, and Australia, and tour stops from Sydney to New York to Rio de Janeiro. “It’s stadium racing on water, in iconic locations all around the world,” explains Andy Thompson, the sport’s managing director.
Halifax, a small city of just over 500,000, is an unusual choice for an international event of this calibre, but the geography and demographics of this maritime hub have made it one of the most well-attended races on the tour. “The real big thing about Halifax has been the crowds; the people have really embraced sailing and SailGP in comparison to other cities,” Thompson says. “When we came here last time, it felt like the entire town was on the waterfront here watching us. I think that’s been the huge difference.” The Halifax waterfront has been transformed for the races, with 6,000 ticketed fans on temporary stadium seating and thousands more crammed along the boardwalk, in beer gardens, and lining the balconies and roof decks of the surrounding buildings.
SailGP is only in its sixth season, and as the only sport of its kind, it’s evolving in real time. Among the biggest challenges facing the sport is the lead time for building its F50 catamarans, a highly specialized process that takes four months and nearly 60,000 man-hours at a cost of over $5 million per boat. That means a collision, like the one that destroyed the New Zealand team’s boat at the start of the season, is not only costly but can also take a team out of competition for months. Then there are the challenges of transporting the league’s equipment — all 120 shipping containers worth — around the world on a tight schedule, and contending with variable weather conditions.
“No one’s in this for the fame; everyone’s in it for the team. This is a roller coaster.”Tom Slingsby
Halifax, like many coastal Canadian cities, has a strong sailing culture, but you don’t need to know the difference between a keel and a cleat to appreciate the action of SailGP. With a relatively compact course (the boats can pass within 10 metres of the stands), and a straightforward objective (the first across the line wins), plus the excitement of unpredictable conditions and the occasional high-speed collision, it’s remarkably accessible. It’s also growing fast. Next year’s calendar will include new races in Rome and Hong Kong, as well as at least one additional team. A Disney docuseries in the vein of Welcome to Wrexham is also in the works, centred on the Australian team, which was recently purchased by an investment group that includes Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
“Things have changed a lot for us,” says Tom Slingsby, the team’s driver and CEO. A former Olympian and a SailGP veteran, Slingsby has been involved with the competition since its inception and has led his team to an unprecedented string of victories in 2026. “Last year, there were eight different winners in eleven events, and we’ve actually managed to win four out of the first six this year,” he says. “I’d love to try to keep Australia at the top of the podium, and it feels like an obligation now to work as hard as I can to lead the sport in a great place.”
Sailing doesn’t have the same broad international fanbase as professional soccer or motorsports, but between the celebrity team owners, the drama of the docuseries, and the high-stakes nature of the competition, it has all the elements for a World Cup-style cultural moment. Despite the sport’s growing profile and the camera crews following them around, Slingsby and his teammates remain focused on getting their boat across the line ahead of the pack. “No one’s in this for the fame; everyone’s in it for the team,” says Slingsby. “This is a roller coaster. We don’t really know where it’s going, but let’s just be ourselves and let’s try to have some fun with it. We’re definitely doing that at the moment. We’re having a lot of fun.”
FEATURE PHOTO COURTESY OF ROLEX.
