The Mubadala Season 3 Grand Final in San Francisco is just around the corner. The two day, drama-filled spectacle will take place on May 6-7 against the iconic backdrop of San Francisco Bay. But how does scoring work, how many races are scheduled and which three teams will compete in the championship-deciding final race? We answer all your questions in simple terms.
Fleet Racing
Five fleet races involving all nine teams will take place across the two days of racing. The first three are scheduled for Saturday and the final two will take place on Sunday. Unlike our usual events, which crown an event winner based on the outcome of the three-boat Final, the San Francisco’s event winner will be the team at the top of the event leaderboard following all five fleet races. This means that any one of the nine rival teams could win the San Francisco event.
Following fleet racing, teams will receive Championship points using the regular scoring system (1st = 10 points, 2nd = 9 points… 8th = 3 points) based on where they finished on the event leaderboard. These points will be added to the Season 3 Championship leaderboard, and the top three teams will then proceed into the winner-takes-all, three boat Grand Final.
Defending champions Australia has already qualified for the Grand Final - meaning that the Aussies will race in the Grand Final showdown despite how it performs in the fleet racing.
While New Zealand looks set to join the Aussies in the Grand Final, the Kiwis still need to finish the San Francisco event in fifth or better to qualify.
The real battle will take place between Quentin Delapierre’s France in third and Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team in fourth - the two teams are currently just one-point apart. Whichever boat places higher in the San Francisco event will therefore proceed into the Grand Final.
There is also a chance that New Zealand could drop out of the top three and both France and Emirates Team GBR proceed to the Grand Final with Australia. But for this to happen, Emirates Team GBR would need to win fleet racing, France would need to come second and New Zealand would need to come sixth.
What if there’s a draw?
There is a chance both Emirates Team GBR and France could end fleet racing level on points. If this happens, the boats will be ranked according to their finishing places in the most recent race. So if France came third and Emirates Team GBR came fourth in the final fleet race, France would be the team to proceed into the Grand Final.
The Grand Final
The Grand Final is a winner-takes-all showdown for the SailGP Championship title. The top three teams on the Season Championship leaderboard will take part in the showdown, which will be the final race of the event - and the entire season.
It doesn’t matter therefore if Australia wins the season based on Championship points. Whichever team wins the final, three-boat shootout will win the entire season and lift the SailGP trophy.
Limited tickets for the Mubadala Season 3 Grand Final | San Francisco on May 6-7 are still available. Click HERE to book your tickets now.
