Switzerland SailGP Team back on the racecourse this weekend

Switzerland SailGP Team back on the racecourse this weekend © Switzerland SailGP Team

The opening event of the Rolex SailGP 2025 Season Championship finally takes place this weekend and Switzerland SailGP Team is ready to get back out on the racecourse.

The 2025 Season will start and finish in the United Arab Emirates, with the first event taking place in Dubai. It marks the team's third visit to the iconic Emirati city. The high-speed racing action takes place in front of the city's iconic skyline on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24, from 11:00 CET/14:00 GST. Fans in Switzerland can watch the action live on SailGP's YouTube channel.

The 2025 Season is the Championship's most expansive yet, with two new teams (Italy and Brazil) and many new events - including the first ever Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix in Geneva - taking place across five continents.

The Swiss team heads into its third Season of the Championship with a refreshed line-up and new mindset, bringing together a crew of seasoned Olympians, America's Cup experience and past SailGP winners. Sebastien Schneiter is back behind the wheel for the first time since February, after a break for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and racing alongside him are some of Switzerland's top sailors: new wing trimmer and flight controller, Arnaud Psarofaghis and Bryan Mettraux, and two-time Olympian, Maud Jayet (strategist). Jayet also raced in Paris 2024, finishing fourth in the Laser Radial class.

Olympic gold medalist, Matt Gotrel, formerly with Emirates GBR and Season 4 winner with the Spanish, Stewart Dodson bring winning experience to the Swiss team's grinder roles and reserve athletes, Arno de Planta - SUI pathway and Schneiter's 49er crew for Paris - and Laurane Mettraux (strategist) support the crew. CEO Tanguy Cariou on the shake-up HERE.

The team has been in Dubai over a week now for a series of training sessions. Schneiter on returning to the racecourse this weekend, "We've had some great days on the water here in Dubai and some fantastic training conditions. We've put in a lot of hours on the water, making the most of it and making good progress. For us right now it's all about the learning curve. We've got a lot of new faces onboard for this Season, so it's really interesting to see how everything is coming together, but we are really pleased with how the team is gelling so far and how we are all moving forward.

"It's really impressive how our new guys who haven't had experience in their roles onboard the F50 before are already learning and benefitting from the experience of people like Matt and Stewart, who are super valuable to us. There's still a lot of work to do, a lot of room for improvement but feels like we are working in a good direction."

After Dubai the fleet heads down under to Australia and NZL (Jan - Feb), followed by a tour of North and South America from March - June (LA, San Francisco, Rio and New York). The European leg takes place over summer, from July - October, with events in the UK, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Spain before concluding in the UAE in November. The Rolex SailGP will head to Geneva 20-21 September and is the only freshwater event on the 2025 calendar.

Last night, SailGP and Rolex announced their title partnership of the Championship, marking a new era for the global racing championship. The news builds on an existing successful founding partnership that began in 2019.