By Alexander Smith LONDON (Reuters) – SailGP will launch its fifth season in Dubai this weekend with Rolex as its title partner, reinforcing a relationship with the Swiss luxury watchmaker since the birth of the league in 2019. Rolex, which has been involved in the sport of sailing for nearly 70 years, will also become title partner for the Los Angeles grand prix in mid-March next year and will continue as the official timepiece for SailGP under the 10-year deal. “What they really like about SailGP is it’s modern, it’s attracting a larger and a younger audience and the fact that this is an annual championship,” said SailGP CEO Russell Coutts, adding Rolex had become “inextricably linked with the league”.
Coutts told Reuters that with SailGP into a fifth season it was able to provide the certainty to sponsors, venues and team owners that had been lacking from sailing events in the past. SailGP, in which teams race state-of-the-art, one-design 50-foot foiling catamarans at high-profile venues around the world, was founded and backed by Oracle’s Larry Ellison, who was earlier involved in successful U.S.
America’s Cup campaigns. Coutts said there were still other areas where SailGP was in talks to sign up partners, highlighting energy and financial services as possible areas of interest. “We think we’ve got a really unique property in some regards,” Coutts said, pointing to the on-site fan experience and hospitality which form part of the SailGP events.
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