Bermuda’s Great Sound hosted the 35th America’s Cup in 2017, when the island built a purpose-designed facility on Cross Island and the world watched foiling catamarans transform the oldest trophy in sport. SailGP inherited that infrastructure and that legacy. The Great Sound’s enclosed waters, surrounded by low coral islands and backed by Hamilton’s pastel-coloured waterfront, create a racecourse with natural grandstand viewing from multiple shorelines.
The wind in May is predominantly from the southwest at 10-18 knots, with the warm Gulf Stream water creating thermals that can shift direction and intensity through the afternoon. Bermuda sits at 32 degrees north latitude, roughly level with Savannah, Georgia, but the island’s isolation in the mid-Atlantic means weather systems can arrive with less warning than at continental venues. The coral reef that surrounds the island creates a stunning turquoise-green water colour that photographs exceptionally well from helicopter cameras.
Racing starts at 14:00 ADT (UTC-3) on both days. For the US east coast, that converts to 13:00 EDT in New York, a Saturday afternoon slot that lands perfectly for American audiences. London sees an 18:00 BST start, early evening. Sydney viewers face a 03:00 overnight start, but Tokyo at 02:00 is similarly inaccessible for East Asian fans.
Bermuda punches well above its weight in sailing. The island has produced Olympic competitors, America’s Cup crew members, and professional sailors across multiple classes despite a population of just 64,000. The local sailing community turns out in force for SailGP, with spectator boats filling the Great Sound alongside the official fleet.
The proximity to the US east coast (two hours by air from New York) makes Bermuda one of the most accessible SailGP venues for American fans. Several teams use Bermuda as a training base between events, and the island’s compact size means the entire sailing community is within a fifteen-minute drive of the racecourse.