At 11:30 a.m. Sunday morning, with New York City under a heat advisory, a gaggle of sailing enthusiasts, dressed in polo shirts and summer dresses, boarded a ferry for Governors Island to watch towering F50 catamarans race along the skyline of Lower Manhattan and in front of the Statue of Liberty.
It was the second day and the finals of the New York Sail Grand Prix, part of SailGP, the growing international sailing competition in which teams, grouped by country, compete in $5 million-dollar boats that race up to 60 miles per hour.
The competition was founded in 2018 by Larry Ellison, the tech billionaire, and Russell Coutts, a five-time America’s Cup Winner, to build a mainstream sailing league. Unlike America’s Cup which occurs roughly every four years, SailGP has events around the globe throughout the year, allowing audiences to follow along.
“It’s this high-adrenaline, high-speed sort of racing product right in front of you,” Mr. Coutts said.
