We value your privacy

On our website, we use services (including from third-party providers) that help us to improve our online presence. The following categories of cookies are used by us and can be managed in the cookie settings. We need your consent before being able to use these services. Alternatively, you may click to refuse to consent, or access more detailed information and change your preferences before consenting. Your preferences will apply to this website only. You can change your preferences at any time by clearing your browser history/cache or visiting our privacy policy page.

By authorizing third-party services, you allow the placement and the reading of cookies and the use of tracking technologies required to keep our website reliable and secure.

Essential

These cookies are required to run available services and to provide basic shopping functions. These cookies are exempt from consent according to the exceptions provided by the Article 82 of Data Protection Act.

Personalization

These cookies provide a custom experience on our website.

Analytics and statistics

These cookies allow us to measure visitors' traffic. They help allow us to understand which products and actions are more popular than others.

Third Party Cookies

Review and set your consent preferences for each partner below. Some personal data is processed without your consent, but you have the right to object.

Rolex (Adobe Analytics and Content Square)

The Rolex SailGP Championship

For nearly seven decades, Rolex has supported sailing races, regattas, and initiatives that push the technological and athletic envelope on the high seas. From Sir Francis Chichester and his solo circumnavigation of the globe to renowned helmsman and four-time Olympic medal winner Sir Ben Ainslie, the pioneering individuals bringing progress to the sport of competitive sailing have worn Rolex watches on their wrists. Harnessing the simple but awesome power of the wind, intrepid helmsman and their crews cut across the waves in iconic races the world over, from the Rolex Fastnet Race to the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race to the Rolex Middle Sea Race and more. There is one race, however, whose speed and technology contribute to an aura of particular prestige and excitement: SailGP.

Rolex is Title Partner and Official Timepiece of the Rolex SailGP Championship, a regatta circuit contested by some of the fastest sailing craft in the world. It is raced on seas worldwide, on F50 foiling catamarans that seem to take flight across the water.

Published on July 8, 2024

Innovation at the service of performance

Crews comprising some of the best sailors. Identical catamarans, with foils and a rigid wingsail, capable of reaching 50 knots, or nearly 100 km/h. Spectacular races that last 15 minutes at most. A season organized on the seas of five continents. Launched in 2019, the SailGP circuit has redefined the world of competitive sailing, utilizing innovative, continuously optimized catamarans. These flying yachts bear the colors of the countries they represent and embody the present and future of the sport.

The SailGP Championship has also generated the Impact League, the Women’s Pathway program and SailGP Inspire, initiatives aimed at promoting sustainability and diversity in the yachting world.

Tom Slingsby –
Rolex Testimonee
A master of many classes

Tom Slingsby is arguably Australia’s most successful and sought-after sailor. A 2012 Olympic Games gold medalist, he is a three-time Rolex World Sailor of the Year and three-time winner of SailGP as chief executive officer and helm of Team Australia.

His talents extend to being at the helm of line-honors winning crews in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and the Rolex Middle Sea Race.

Tom Slingsby wears a Yacht-Master 42 in RLX titanium.

Sir Ben Ainslie -
Rolex Testimonee
The gold standard in regatta racing

With four gold medals and one silver, Sir Ben Ainslie achieved the outstanding feat of claiming a medal in the five consecutive Olympic Games in which he competed.

The British sailor races for the Royal Yacht Squadron, with which Rolex has partnered since the 1980s, and is chief executive officer of the Great Britain team competing in the SailGP Championship.

Ainslie is an America’s Cup winner, having served as tactician for Oracle Team USA in its 2013 defeat of Emirates Team New Zealand.

Sir Ben Ainslie wears a Yacht-Master 42.

Hannah Mills – Rolex Testimonee
Committed to inclusion

With two gold medals and one silver, Hannah Mills is among the most successful women sailors in Olympic Games history. Winner of the Rolex World Sailor of the Year award in 2016 and 2021, she holds the position of tactician in the Great Britain SailGP crew.

Off the water, Mills is a committed campaigner for her sport. A SailGP ambassador for sustainable development and an International Olympic Committee (IOC) sustainability ambassador, she is also a co-founder of Athletes of the World, campaigning for positive impact around climate change.

Mills is highly committed to the inclusion of women in sailing. In 2022, with fellow Rolex Testimonee Sir Ben Ainslie, she launched Athena Pathway to fast-track the development of youth and female sailors in high-performance competition and bring diversity to the sport.

Hannah Mills wears a Yacht-Master 37.

Rolex and Yachting A partnership going the distance

Martine Grael –
Rolex Testimonee
Making history

Brazilian sailor Martine Grael is making history as the first female helm in SailGP with the newly established Brazil team in 2025 Season.

Born into a family of sailors and inspired by her father – renowned yachtsman Torben Grael – she began sailing as a youngster on Guanabara Bay where diverse wind patterns honed her adaptability, skill and competitive spirit. Aged just 22, she was named the 2014 Rolex World Sailor of the Year. Two years later in Rio, she won the first of two Olympic gold medals in the 49er FX class, repeating the feat in Tokyo in 2021.

Grael also showed her versatility and endurance when competing offshore in the grueling 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race, further cementing her reputation as one of the world’s most complete sailors.

Martine Grael – Rolex Testimonee Making history

Rolex and Yachting
A partnership going the distance

Yacht clubs, renowned sailors, iconic offshore races and some of the most celebrated regattas. For almost 70 years, Rolex has forged strong relationships with the world of yachting. A prominent yacht racing partner, the brand shares the common pursuit of excellence and a passion for premium performance with custodians of the sport’s enduring spirit.

As long as mankind takes to the high seas, the need for a robust and reliable timekeeper will remain. Representing the cutting edge of competitive sailing, SailGP is merely the latest in a long line of exciting races that has relied on the chronometric precision of Rolex watches — watches whose unique combination of water resistance, automatic winding, and incredible accuracy have made them a reliable partner on the wrists of the world’s best sailors for neatly 70 years.

Bhindi, a premier jeweler based in southern California since the 1980s, is a proud member of the worldwide network of Official Rolex Jewelers. Visit us at our Glendale and Artesia, CA locations to explore the Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master, a luxurious and precise chronometer designed for navigation on precision timing on the water.