SailGP has confirmed the sale of the Los Gallos SailGP Team to Quantum Pacific Group, the largest investment ever made in a Spanish sailing team. The buyer is no stranger to big sport: Quantum Pacific is the vehicle of Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer, a man Forbes valued at US$17.7 billion earlier this year whose family fortune was built on ships.
The man behind the money
Ofer’s father founded a shipping company in the 1950s, and Idan spent the better part of 15 years working across Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States building the business into a global operation. Today, Quantum Pacific Shipping runs a fleet of around 300 vessels out of Singapore. When a man whose entire professional life has been spent moving things across oceans buys a sailing team, it is not a left-field decision.
He has made no secret of his interest in Iberian sport. He put €50 million into Atlético de Madrid in 2018, took an 85 percent stake in Portuguese club Famalicão, and more recently backed the Movistar cycling team. Los Gallos are the next addition: Season 4 champions, led by Olympic gold medallists Diego Botín and Florian Trittel, with Nicole van der Velden running the tactics.
We are here to win
SailGP Managing Director Andrew Thompson said the acquisition reflects where the championship is heading. “Quantum Pacific brings a deep understanding of sport performance, commercial success and the maritime world. Spain is a cornerstone market for us, defined by its rich sporting culture, incredibly passionate fanbase and a winning SailGP team.”
The two men joining the Los Gallos board tell you something about how Quantum Pacific approaches sport. Amit Singh has spent more than 15 years in venture capital across six countries and leads the group’s sports investment portfolio. Harry Odling studied Marine and Composite Technology at the University of Plymouth, worked at Eastern Pacific Shipping, and competes himself as a sailor, runner and cyclist. Neither is a finance man parachuted in for appearances.
Quantum Pacific CEO Antoine Bonnier kept it short: “We are here to win, and we are here to build something that lasts.”
Los Gallos CEO Antonio Alquézar said the new ownership gives the team a platform to chase the Season 6 title that went to Great Britain in Abu Dhabi last November.
One team left
The deal brings SailGP to within one team of completing the privatisation of its entire grid. Los Gallos are now the 12th of 13 teams sold into private hands since the championship launched in 2019. The one holdout will be of particular interest to Kiwi readers: the New Zealand SailGP Team, skippered by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, remains the only squad still owned by the league itself.
Spain stays on the calendar regardless. After four seasons in Cádiz, the championship moves to Valencia for the first time on September 5 and 6, 2026. Before that, the fleet heads to Rio de Janeiro for the Enel Rio Sail Grand Prix on April 11 and 12, SailGP’s first crack at South America. Los Gallos will be out there racing, same as always, just with different people watching from the grandstand.
