The short answer is the SailGP—a high-speed, high-tech hydrofoiling sailboat racing series that takes place at iconic cities around the world. And since teams from USA, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Brazil, Italy, Canada, France, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Spain will be racing in one of the most iconic cities in the world—New York City—this weekend. It comes as no surprise that new celebrity-team-owner announcements seem to be happening daily in the lead-up to the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix that will take place between the Battery, Governors Island, and the Statue of Liberty.

But then again, celebrity boat racing team ownership is not new. Tom Brady owns an all-electric-powered E1 Racing team. Will Smith, Lebron James, and Rafa Nadal own E1 teams too. But, now that Australia’s three-time SailGP champions have unveiled two new co-owners—Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds—who will be joining team Driver and CEO Tom Slingsby in leading the freshly rebranded BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team, it confirms that SailGP founders Russel Coutts and Larry Elision were right when they started the SailGP back in 2018. Sailboat racing can be exciting enough to attract celebrity team ownership–as long as the boats are fast, the venues are cool, the technology is cutting edge, and the racing is close enough to shore so fans can be part of the action.

And I think we all can agree that it’d be hard to find cooler venue to watch a large fleet of hydrofoiling F50-catamarans scream around a racer course than NYC. Well, maybe watching the racing with Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds in the Adrenalin Lounge might be a little cooler?

I’ll let Ryan Reynolds explain. “We’re incredibly excited to set sail together in this new adventure. Hugh brings a deep love for and pride in his home country as well as being an avid fan of sailing. He will also be bringing his overly clingy emotional support human along for the ride.”

“This is an incredible milestone for us and for our sport, having global icons Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds come on board as co-owners of our team,” Slingsby says. “They bring unmatched star power, a love for storytelling, and a sharp sense of humor that fits perfectly with our team.”

So, yes, after writing about sailing and yachts for over 30-years, I can report this level of star-power is new to sailing. And that’s just the most recent announcement. It was only last week when America’s Cup legend Jimmy Spithill, (who’s also CEO, founder, and co-owner of the Italian SailGP team) announced that the team had been acquired by a consortium of accomplished investors and sports industry leaders, including Hollywood royalty, Anne Hathaway.

And it was only several weeks before that when I heard that the Tommy Hilfiger was going to be partnering with the US SailGP team for this season. Then I spoke to Tommy in person and realized he’s still as involved and as passionate about sailing and the yachting lifestyle now as he was when he launched his first sailing line.

“I’ve always been inspired by bringing the worlds of fashion and sport together,” Hilfiger says. “And today’s fashion is leaning into an elevated and luxury lifestyle.

“The sailing collection builds on our heritage which was inspired by my archive. But we’re also looking ahead. Especially at what Mike Buckley is doing with the US SailGP Team. It’s much more modern. It’s basically Formula 1 on the water.”

Who is Mike Buckley you ask? Well, he’s the outspoken co-owner/strategist of the current US SailGP team. And he’s a full-on evangelist when he talks about bringing the excitement and mass market appeal of high-performance sailboat racing to a wider audience. So, I was not surprised when I heard he landed a partnership deal with Tommy.

“I’d been trying to get the Tommy Hilfiger brand back into sailing since I sent a cold DM to Tommy’s Instagram account in 2018. Um…he didn’t respond. Then in 2019, I was sitting on my couch watching the Met Gala, when all of a sudden, Tommy and his wife are on the red carpet decked out in red, white and blue. And then Lewis Hamilton cam in next. All decked out in Tommy Hilfiger. I knew it was a sign.

“So when we bought the team in 2023, Virginia Ritchie, their CMO, was one of the first people I reached out to. Of course, I told her about my unanswered DMs to Tommy. And she probably thought I was crazy. But we actually aligned pretty quickly.”

And while the US SailGP team might be at the bottom of the leaderboard at the moment. No one will argue with the fact that few images will communicate how much the SailGP has “arrived” in NYC this year better than Buckley’s US SailGP boat foiling in front of the Stature of Liberty with the iconic red, white, and blue Tommy Hilfiger logo on its high-performance wing sail.

So, if you want to see the action for yourself. It’s officially called the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix. It takes place Jun 7-8. Governors Island will be transformed into a waterfront Race Stadium where Rolex SailGP Championship leaders, Tom Slingsby’s Australian team will be marking Emirates GBR and Spain who sit at second and third in the standings. Peter Burling and his New Zealand Black Foils are currently forth in the standings. And I can say from experience the views will be spectacular.

See you there?