What do you do when your premier event is located in a war zone ?
This is the situation for the SailGP Championship with its 2026 ‘Race to Abu Dhabi’ with eleven of 13 SailGP teams still mathematically in contention for the $2 million prize, barring penalties.
The remaining three events on the calendar – Geneva, Dubai and Abu Dhabi – offer multiple opportunities to gain ground, or see a Grand Final position slip away.
SailGP has decided (as of 16 Sep) that following the Geneva event this weekend, they will ship the 13 team F50s and all the allied technical infrastructure to Dubai/Abu Dhabi for the two final events taking place between 21 and 29 November.
The venue for the Grand Final – a race-off between the season’s top three teams – is The Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix presented by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, scheduled to take place from 28 – 29 November.
Firstly teams will compete in a series of fleet races at the Emirates Dubai event 21-22 November, and then move to the Mubadala Abu Dhabi event to determine that event winner.
Points will then be added to the overall Rolex SailGP Championship standings to determine the top three teams that will then compete in the winner-takes-all Grand Final race with $2 million on the line.
To this end SailGP have put tickets for the events on sale and issued a Media Alert with a description of what is involved for the 13 teams to win the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi. What they do not mention is the on-going Iran/USA war taking place in and around the Strait of Hormuz, involving missile/drone strikes on Saudia Arabia and the UAE.
The unwelcome alternative would seem to be wrapping-up the 2026 Season SailGP Championship at Geneva this weekend, but from the lack of any direct announcement, we will not know of any such last minute change of thinking until the race format for Geneva is released.
The last direct comment from SailGP just confirmed that they were selling tickets for the events.
Limited tickets remain for Geneva this weekend, and who knows a last minute format change could put you at the Grand Final.
For clarification, Dubai and Abu Dhabi are individual emirates and major cities within the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
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