As SailGP approaches its fifth season of racing, this professional sailing league is finally flying on its own two foils.

For the first three seasons of the racing series, one team dominated the championship title and the seven-figure prize. However, a surprise win in the fourth season championship demonstrated that SailGP’s talent pool is increasing, and that other teams now have the skills to compete for the title.

Moreover, with the fifth season starting in November, almost all of the 11 teams are financially independent from the league, team valuations have surged, and the league is welcoming its first woman driver, new technologies, more teams and events — all signs that indicate that SailGP is achieving a new level of maturity in professional sailing.

During the first three seasons, the Australia SailGP Team and its driver, Tom Slingsby, an Olympic gold medalist, won the championship title each year. They looked unstoppable.

This changed last season when the driver Diego Botin, also an Olympic gold medalist, and the Spain SailGP Team won the winner-takes-all Grand Final race in San Francisco in July.

“We had a really good season, but the nature of this game is only one person can win, and it comes down to a very short final,” Slingsby said.

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