Russell Coutts, SailGP CEO has announced a prize money upgrade from Abu Dhabi 2024 onwards.
The total prize money at each event will increase to $400K from $300K, to be distributed between the top three sailing teams.
The Grand Final prize money will also double, from $1M to $2M – while $350K will be awarded to the top team on points ahead of the three-boat Championship Final.
Coutts also indicated that as the league grows commercially, the prize pool will continue to increase.
The Dubai event is also expected to see the return of the 29m wing to the circuit after New Zealand’s equipment failure in Saint-Tropez.
The wing designers and engineers have confirmed they know why the wing failed and will be meeting with all teams in Dubai this coming weekend to brief them on exactly what went wrong, and how to avoid a similar equipment failure in future.
Elsewhere, the second on-water testing phase of the in-development T-Foils will take place in Dubai.
The expectation is that the current speed record (99.94 km/h 56 knots) could be raised to speeds approaching 110 km/h (59.4 knots)
The new foils are designed to provide more control at high speed and supercharge the on-water performance. The new foils are planned for Season 5.
The Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix presented by P&O Marinas takes place 9-10 December 2023.
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