American Magic team with Denmark SailGP, as fastest get faster
Denmark in action at Australian SailGP in Sydney 2025.
Photo: Felix Diemer for SailGP
SailGP’s fastest may just have found even more speed.
Rockwool Denmark have never won the professional sailing league, but have the distinction of clocking the fastest-ever speed in the F50 boat, when they reached 103.93km/h at Sassnitz, Germany, last August.
In the process, they became the first team to top 100km/h.
As the fleet prepares for the New Zealand SailGP at Auckland this weekend, the Danish have confirmed they will join forces with American Magic in a deal reportedly worth US$60 million (NZ$99.3m), as they strive for more consistency in their racing performance.
American Magic founder Doug DeVos is one of the world’s leading investors, with ownership of the Orlando Magic NBA basketball franchise, but the organisation is perhaps best known to Kiwis as a challenger for the America’s Cup at Auckland and Barcelona.
At Auckland 2021, their boat ‘Patriot’ capsized and almost sank during round-robin stages of the Prada Cup. While they returned to competition for the challenger semi-finals, they were quickly dispatched by Italians Luna Rossa.
Four years later, they suffered an identical fate and, last October, announced they would not contest the next America’s Cup off Naples in 2027.
American Magic chief executive Mike Cazar (right) and SailGP boss Russell Coutts announce the new partnership.
Photo: Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
Instead, the organisation has created a new training facility at Pensacola, Florida, where the Danish SailGP outfit will now develop their programme.
“It’s super exciting,” driver Nicolai Sehested. “I think it’s a vote of confidence that such a cool team as American Magic believe in our team and what we’ve built over the last few years.
“It gives us the opportunity to go all the way, which we’ve dreamt of since we started.”
“We’ve been watching SailGP grow in terms of the excitement, the fans, the number of teams and incredible venues, but also the product is incredibly compelling,” said American Magic chief executive Mike Cazer.
“We’ve been rooting for it and, along the way, we said we needed to be part of this incredible league.
“We believe in this team and what Nicolai and his team have developed is a high-performance platform on the water, but also their values off the water. We’re embracing the Danish character of the team, we’re investing in it and we’re developing it.”
NEW SPEED RECORD!! 103.93KM/H@SAILGPDEN officially break both racing and overall F50 speed record!#SailGP pic.twitter.com/Y4wktdvJUX
β SailGP (@SailGP) August 16, 2025
SailGP boss Russell Coutts hinted that American Magic’s interest may accelerate the creation of a second-tier ‘minor league’ to the professional sailing competition.
“American Magic bring a lot of expertise, not just in the sailing field, but in the business field,” he said. “To have them involved in the league and driving the league forward is enormous.
“The training centre at Pensacola is a state-of-the-art facility. They have an objective to train young talent, we obviously have a need to train young talent, so those goals are aligned.
“We are looking at a smaller catamaran, probably 25-30 feet [7.5-9 metres] long.
“We think there’s a model similar to other minor leagues in professional sports. We can develop a product that allowed the top young athletes in the world to develop their skills and be drafted into the top teams.”
That’s a hugely exciting pathway going forward, he said.
Denmark joined SailGP in 2021 and won their first event at Abu Dhabi last November.
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