ONE WEEK TO GO TO SARDINIA – IT’S GAME ON.
The talking stops on Friday 22nd May 2026, in sunny Sardinia – one of the most beautiful places in the world to sail – when eight AC40 foiling yachts line-up on the start line and head upwind after the starting gun at 15.13 local time. It’s the moment when so many questions will be answered, and a thousand more asked, with none more burning than whether the Women & Youth teams of Emirates Team New Zealand, GB1 and Luna Rossa can seize their opportunity.
Sardinia will be the first time in the modern foiling history of the America’s Cup that Women & Youth teams will race against their senior team members in scoring races. It is a chance to steal the headlines, to put names on the America’s Cup radar, and a declaration of future intent. Many of the Women & Youth team members will be contesting the America’s Cup for real and writing their names in history for decades to come. It is, as they say, “a moment.”
For the principle teams, the pressure is on, not just for success in the Prelim Regatta but for their status in the team and their standing in America’s Cup circles. It simply could not be more intense. Five of the seven entered teams for the real America’s Cup in Naples in 2027, Emirates Team New Zealand, GB1, Luna Rossa, Tudor Team Alinghi and La Roche-Posay Racing Team, have assembled some of the finest sailing talent in the world. The intensity of their training leading up to Sardinia has ramped-up markedly. They know what is at stake.
What looks like a ‘friendly competition between foreign nations’ as prescribed in the 1857 Deed of Gift, is anything but. On the water, no quarter is given. It’s maritime warfare, and fleet racing of the highest level over eight races through to Sunday. The top two AC40 teams, after the eight-race series, will then proceed to the match-race grand finale. At that point, everything changes. The other six boats are sent ashore. The racecourse is quiet, and the gladiatorial battle for supremacy begins as the two AC40 yachts circle around each other at pace, all seeking a gain off a start line where, as the signal-master on Queen Victoria’s yacht so famously said: “There is no Second.”
The prize at stake for the teams is a wonderful Louis Vuitton trophy, but in essence it is so much more. Winning in Sardinia, in equally matched AC40 yachts, is a waypoint of where each individual team is at on the ‘Road to Naples.’ An outstanding result here, and spraying the champagne on the podium, inserts belief and ‘momentum’ into the winners’ team from top to bottom. It is a validation of the long hours that are being put into the daily grind of an America’s Cup campaign. On Monday morning, the winners will feel an inch or two taller.
For everyone else, it will be a learning curve. Perhaps a tale of a near-miss, a costly error or a gear failure that scuppered their series. Many will already have an inkling of where they are on the learning curve, where they are as a team. Some will out-perform, some will under-perform, and that is what makes this opening Preliminary Regatta in Sardinia, the first step on the ‘Road to Naples’ such a fascinating regatta.
BRIEF INSIDE GUIDE TO ALL THE TEAMS
Emirates Team New Zealand
Nathan Outteridge, Olympic gold medallist and America’s Cup winner in 2024, skippers the principle team for the Defenders. Co-helm will be Youth America’s Cup sailor, Seb Menzies. Trimming sees the return of three-time Cup winner Andy Maloney and new to the team Iain Jensen who was Outteridge’s crew at London 2012 when the pair won gold. This is the team everyone wants to beat and are the benchmark.
Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth
Talent abounds with Olympic bronze medallist Erica Dawson and International Moth ace Jake Pye on co-helm duties. Trim is provided by match-racing expert Serena Woodall and iQFoil Olympian Josh Armit. This is definitely a team to watch in Sardinia.
GB1
Gold medallist Dylan Fletcher skippers the newly liveried GB1 team with Ben Cornish, multiple world champion and Finn Olympic triallist on co-helm. Engineering genius and America’s Cup finalist in 2024, Bleddyn Mon, is back on trim, joined by new signing from Luna Rossa, Andrea Tesei who contested the Louis Vuitton Cup Final in 2024 with the Italians. A team that has every chance of challenging for the podium.
Athena Pathway
Hannah Mills OBE, the most decorated female sailing Olympian of all time skippers and is joined by kite-surfing gold medallist Ellie Aldridge on co-helm. Twenty-one year old Sam Webb gets his opportunity on trim, alongside Youth America’s Cup sailor from 2024, Matt Beck. The team will be looking to upset the form book in Sardinia.
Luna Rossa 1 (Unconfirmed)
The Italians have announced a squad of sailors, but the likely combination is Peter Burling, two-time America’s Cup winner, alongside double Olympic gold medallist Ruggero Tita on helming duties. Recent sessions have seen the experienced Umberto Molineris and Vittorio Bissarro on trim but Gigi Ugolini, Youth America’s Cup winner in 2024, could also be considered. This is the home favourite. Nothing less than a win will do.
Luna Rossa 2 (Unconfirmed)
Marco Gradoni, winning skipper of the Youth America’s Cup in 2024, is almost certain to skipper in Luna Rossa 2, with Margherita Porro, the winning co-helm of the Women’s America’s Cup in 2024, strongly tipped to co-helm from the port (left) side. The trim positions are up for grabs with Maria Giubilei, Giovanni Santi, Maria Vittoria Marchesini, and Federico Colaninno, all in consideration whilst new sensation Massimiliano 'Max' Antoniazzi could be an option on co-helm. This is the team to watch. Everyone is expecting a solid regatta in Sardinia – and a possible win.
Tudor Team Alinghi (Unconfirmed)
Paul Goodison, Olympic gold and bronze medallist, will skipper alongside match-racing and foiling ace Phil Robertson. The likely trim team will be two-time Olympian Pietro Sibello and former Optimist world champion Nicolas Rolaz, but the team also have the skills of Jason Waterhouse and Nathalie Brugger to call upon. Very much a team to watch, they have gelled well in training in Barcelona and have a steely determination to perform in Sardinia.
La Roche-Posay Racing Team
Quentin Delapierre, Olympian and America’s Cup skipper in 2024, will lead the French team with Diego Botín, Olympic gold medallist on co-helm. Trim will be provided by foiling expert and Cup veteran Jason Saunders alongside Botín’s Olympic gold medal winning crew Florian Trittel. In reserve are International Moth World Champion, Enzo Balanger and foiling expert Timothé Lapauw. This is a team making all the right moves and is many pundit’s outside bet for a podium place. The French will be strong in Sardinia.