CARLO BORLENGHI (1956–2026): CREATOR OF IMAGES THAT DEFINED THE MODERN AMERICA’S CUP

For more than four decades, Carlo stood behind the lens at the sport's greatest moments. From the graceful 12 Metres of Newport to the breathtaking flight of the AC 72 and AC75 foiling yachts, he possessed a rare ability to freeze speed, tension and emotion in a single frame. His photographs did more than record history, they became history. His innate ability to capture both emotion and raw, brute force was matched by post-production genius that created images so perfect and so detailed that you almost felt you were there on the boat.

Born in Bellano on the shores of Lake Como in 1956, Carlo’s career began photographing local regattas before a collaboration with Uomo Mare Vogue opened the door to the international sailing circuit. His first America's Cup came in 1983, when he joined Italy's pioneering Azzurra challenge in Newport, Rhode island – arguably the gateway regatta to the modern America’s Cup. It proved the beginning of a lifelong relationship with the oldest trophy in international sport.

From that moment onward, Carlo became an ever-present figure at the America’s Cup. He photographed Italia in Fremantle, Il Moro di Venezia in San Diego, Luna Rossa through multiple campaigns, Alinghi's successful defence, and later served as Official Photographer of the America's Cup itself.  By the time the foiling era arrived, few people had witnessed the evolution of the event with such continuity, insight and affection.

His work reached far beyond the America's Cup. Borlenghi documented Whitbread and Volvo Ocean Races, Rolex regattas globally, Giovanni Soldini's ocean adventures and countless Olympic, offshore and grand prix sailing events. Wherever the sport's greatest sailors competed, Carlo was usually there first, camera poised, waiting for the perfect moment. He was the gold-standard in the America’s Cup and not even the COVID pandemic could stop him from attending in 2021 and capturing more history in the making.

What made Carlo exceptional was not simply technical brilliance, but an instinctive and deep rooted understanding of sailboat racing itself. He knew where the pressure would build on a start line, when the spray would explode from a bow, when a helmsman's glance revealed victory or defeat. His images carried movement, atmosphere and humanity in equal measure.

He also transformed the visual language of the America's Cup. Long before drones and stabilised video became commonplace, Carlo was finding fresh perspectives that revealed both the majesty of the boats and the personalities behind them. Owners, sailors, designers and organisers trusted him because they knew he understood their world. From a personal perspective, I knew Carlo since the 2000 America’s Cup and he never failed to inspire or to give the warmest of greetings, always willing to support newcomers to the world he knew so well and loved so much.

Recognition inevitably followed for Carlo. Among many honours, he received the Omega Award for Best Sports Photographer, won the Grand Prix de l'Image Course au Large in Paris and was recognised by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano for his longstanding contribution to sailing. Indeed at the 2007 ceremony, President Napolitano said: “Per i molti anni di intensa attività a favore del mondo della vela” (“For the many years of intense activity in support of the world of sailing.”) His exhibitions in Paris, Milan and elsewhere confirmed that his photographs belonged as much in museums and galleries as they did in the yachting magazines that he contributed to all over the world.

Yet despite international acclaim, Carlo remained unmistakably approachable. Around every media centre and America’s cup dock, he was known for his warmth, humour and boundless enthusiasm. Young photographers sought his advice. Sailors greeted him as a friend – in fact many greeted him with reverence such was his knowledge and impact. Journalists, myself included, relied on his remarkable memory, generous spirit and recall of the most minute detail.

Few photographers have become so intertwined with the identity of a sport. Mention the America's Cup over the past forty years and, in countless minds, the images that appear first are likely to be Carlo Borlenghi's. His legacy is measured not only in the millions of photographs he leaves behind, but in the way generations of sailing fans came to understand the beauty, speed and drama of the America’s Cup both on and off the water through his eyes and lens.

The yachts will continue to race. The America’s Cup will continue to be won. But the man who so often gave those moments their enduring image will be deeply missed.

Carlo Borlenghi is survived by his wife Alessandra, family, friends and an international sailing community that owes much of its visual history to his extraordinary and rare talent.

Magnus Wheatley