SailGP, the global racing series, has confirmed Rome as the host city for the Italy Sail Grand Prix, as it continues to refine its 2027 calendar.
The event will be held from September 11 to 12 as part of an initial three-year deal, with the event to be held via a purpose-built race stadium at Porto di Roma.
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The live race will be combined with entertainment, food, and live experiences on shore.
SailGP chief executive and co-founder Russell Coutts said: “Rome is a unique location for SailGP, bringing together ancient history, architecture and culture with the modern, cutting-edge technological innovation we are known for.
“Adding another world-class destination to our calendar demonstrates how strong a proposition SailGP is to cities and partners globally.”
Italy will return to the SailGP hosting fold for the first time since the 2023-24 campaign’s Italy Sail Grand Prix in Taranto, which was cancelled in 2024-25 and omitted entirely in the current 2026 season. Taranto also staged the event in 2021.
The announcement comes days after SailGP announced the preliminary structure of its 2027 calendar, which included a stop in Italy, but not a specific host city.
The 2027 campaign will begin with the Hong Kong Sail Grand Prix on January 23 and 24, the first of 13 events that will take place across the season.
It will be followed by the return of the Australia Sail Grand Prix in Perth (which opened the 2026 season) on an as-yet-unconfirmed date in February.
After Perth will be the North American swing of events, starting with San Francisco, US (April 3 and 4), then Bermuda (May 1 and 2), Halifax, Canada (May 15 and16), and New York, US (June 5 and 6).
The tour will then embark on a European swing, featuring the return of sail Grand Prix races in Portsmouth, UK (July 24 and 25), Sassnitz, Germany (August 14 and15), Valencia, Spain (September 4 and 5), and now Rome, Italy (September 11 and12).
There will be two more regular-season races after this, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (October 9 and 10) and Dubai, UAE (November 20 and 21), before the season-ending 2027 SailGP Championship Grand Final, which will take place in either November or December at a to-be-confirmed location.
The 2024-25 SailGP Grand Final also took place in the UAE in Abu Dhabi, as will the upcoming 2026 edition, and with Dubai retaining the rights to the prior race, the final will likely remain in the Middle East region.
SailGP has confirmed that a number of these events will also return in the 2028 campaign, as part of what it calls a “broader shift toward long-term venue partnerships and sustained investment in key markets.”
The deal marks the latest commercial partnership for SailGP, with its increased visibility fueling its growth.
Last month, Quantum Pacific sports investment group became the latest to acquire the Spanish SailGP team, bringing the championship a step closer to completing its goal, set when it launched in 2019, to transition to a model where teams are privately owned within five years.
SailGP has one team left to sell, with the New Zealand team now the only one left without private owners.
The current 2026 SailGP season began on January 17 and 18 in Australia and will end with the Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix set to run from November 28 to 29.
