Black Foils land investment deal to secure SailGP future

An American private equity firm has taken a majority stake in the Black Foils SailGP team.

MSP Sports Capital has aquired the team ahead of their return to the water at the Canada Grand Prix in Halifax this weekend.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke will remain as co-ceos of the Black Foils but the investment marks a major milestone for the team that has been trying to get a funding deal done for a couple of seasons.

The Black Foils were the last boat in the 13-strong fleet to secure funding and had risked dropping out of the competition if they could not get private investors on board.

SailGP was established by Oracle founder Larry Ellison and Sir Russell Coutts using a centrally-owned business model with the goal of transitioning to private team ownership.

All SailGP boats are centrally owned and maintained by the league, with team operational budgets covered by corporate or private investors.

"The goal of SailGP has always been to build something that world-class investors and sports operators would want to own," Coutts said.

Burling described the new ownership as an "exciting new chapter for us".

MSP's veteran investor-operators Jeff Moorad and Jahm Najafi's expertise spans the world's largest sports leagues, including MLB, NBA, NFL, F1 and European football.

"From the very beginning Pete and I set out to make the Black Foils a world-class team and sporting brand in all areas and we are thrilled to partner with MSP and work towards that goal and continue to grow the team," Tuke said.

The news follows recent high-profile acquisitions in the 2026 season, including Quantum Pacific's purchase of the Spain SailGP Team, the sale of the Danish-flagged Rockwool Racing to Orlando Magic owner Doug DeVos, and the Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds backed ownership group behind the Bonds Flying Roos (Australia) last year.