Sport

The Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Report

Published on: 1st Jun, 2026

Day 1 – Women & youth reign supreme in stunning Sardinian conditions

Sardinia sparkled on the opening day of the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta, with near perfect ‘champagne conditions’ of 16-21 knots that challenged the very best sailors in the world. As a venue, it was as close to perfection as possible with huge crowds gathering in the superb Race Village along the port and the Via Roma, and out to the FanZone Lazzaretto. The America’s Cup in Italy is a big deal and today they were treated to some of the finest racing ever seen in the AC40 class.

Paul Goodison, skipper of Tudor Team Alinghi and one of the most experienced sailors in the America’s Cup in this cycle put it best saying: “I think Cagliari is an awesome venue. You see today, that was some of the best racing I’ve done for a long, long time.”

As the wind built through the afternoon, the chop whipped up in the Bay of Angels making manoeuvres in yachts hitting speeds in excess of 42 knots, difficult. Nobody came away unscathed and we saw capsizes, broaches, and some dramatic nose-dives throughout the afternoon. Over long courses the cream rose to the top and local hometown favourites, Luna Rossa, were very much the talk of the Race Village after racing had concluded.

The Luna Rossa Women & Youth Team won the first race in commanding style and it felt very much like they had carried their form from the Official Practice Racing into the regatta. Skippered by Marco Gradoni, the current Youth America’s Cup winner, alongside Margherita Porro and Maria Giubilei, the current Women’s America’s Cup winners, with newcomer Giovanni Santi, Luna Rossa 1 were the team to beat all afternoon. They sit at the top of the leaderboard overnight after scoring two race wins and a second place, ahead of the senior team led by Peter Burling with Ruggero Tita on co-helm, although that’s not the full story and the Italian Women & Youth team certainly didn’t have it all their own way.

Emirates Team New Zealand, the current Defender of the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup, came into the regatta keen to know where they stood in relation to the other teams and after a tricky first race where they incurred a number of penalties, came out with everything to prove in races 2 and 3. In winning the second race through some superb tactical sailing, fending off the Luna Rossa duo, they came into the third race and quickly established a lead. Nathan Outteridge and newly crowned 49er World Champion Seb Menzies, sailed supremely until the last leg to the finish when a foil oscillation led into a vicious ‘porpoise’ followed by a resultant nosedive. It ended their race and handed a victory to the hard charging Luna Rossa Women & Youth Team. How different the leaderboard could look this evening.

Speaking afterwards, Nathan Outteridge reflected on the day saying; “Our boat’s going really well. We learned a lot in the practice racing in the last couple of days, and the guys are doing a great job to give us a boat that’s going nice and fast. The middle race was probably the highlight of the day. It felt like we had a Luna Rossa boat everywhere I looked – on the left, on the right – but it was really fun racing those guys. And the last race it looked like we stepped out to a pretty nice lead, and you’ve got to start these boats hard, you’ve got to push them hard, but it feels like every time you go for a gybe, it’s a bit of a roll of the dice in that sea state. The boats do a bit of bouncing and wobbling and unfortunately, we got a big bounce and then the rudder popped out – it was sort of all over from there.”

Margherita Porro, co-helm on the overnight leaders Luna Rossa Women & Youth was modest in victory, saying: “The trimmers onboard are super good, and in a day like today with choppy conditions and strong wind, trimmers make the difference. We were super-fast, so big shout out to them. Today it was hard because at the end of the day, we just wanted to keep things simple, don’t fall off the foils, and it wasn’t easy at all, especially downwind.

Reflecting on their position as leaders of the regatta, Margherita added: “I think it’s a good sign that Women & Youth are first at the moment. It’s a huge sign for women, a huge sign for young people to keep pushing and believe in themselves.”

Ruggero Tita, co-helm alongside Peter Burling on Luna Rossa 2 saw it as no surprise that their stablemates were doing so well saying: “We knew that we were coming here with big expectation, and of course, we did our homework at home during this winter. The Women & Youth had a bit more sailing in the one design boat. We sailed the AC40 as well, but in manual configuration, so it was a bit different. But we are slowly getting into it and taking more and more confidence with the one design system.”

Elsewhere, some of the greatest foiling sailors of a generation reflected on a tough sea-state with Quentin Delapierre, skipper of La Roche-Posay Racing Team saying: “I think, honestly, below 16 knots of true wind speed, we were super confident. First race we had a good comeback. We felt comfortable onboard and tactically we had a good communication, and we were probably on the momentum. When the wind increased, with the sea state, it was challenging for us…I don’t think the boat is difficult. It’s just managing and understanding the autopilot behaviour that is quite tricky – especially when you have sea state, the autopilot cannot anticipate what will come. So you have to tweak it and find good things to make sure that it will stay stable, especially during the gybes.”

Dylan Fletcher confirmed the boat damage onboard GB1 that kept them out of the first race and then forced the team to retire early in the second race, saying: “In the warm-up to the first race, we sheared the traveller sheave in the port side. We got a repair, which we managed to do for the second race, but then that broke unfortunately, so finally third time’s the charm. We got it fixed for that last race, and it was nice to get that race in. Felt like we were a bit green into it. Everyone else had warmed up. But I think we showed that we’ve got some of the pace out there.”

Hannah Mills of Athena Pathway, who had a ‘tough day at the office’ including a capsize in the second race commented: “Definitely more wind than we’ve sailed in ever before and it was especially tough for our new people on board. It was a big day out for us and just lots to learn and take-away but you could see everyone struggling with the gybes and the roundups and yeah we learned that the boats like to bounce!”

Paul Goodison, skipper of Tudor Team Alinghi reflected on the racing, saying: “It was a great day to get out there and get into some real racing. We’ve had a few issues the last couple of days with the boat not working and a couple of other little gremlins the guys sorted out. But we found out this morning that we’re missing some flap range on our foils, which was a bit daunting when you go out in that much breeze. But I think the team dealt with it really well.”

Overall it was a spectacle of high-class foiling America’s Cup racing. The opening races of the first Prelim Regatta on the ‘Road to Naples’ was sensational and the forecast looks like more of the same into the weekend. The front-runners are established. The bar is set high. Whoever comes out on top on Sunday in the match-race final will have deserved the win.

Day 2 – Youthful talent shines in beautiful Sardinia on day two of the Preliminary Regatta

After yesterday’s wind and waves, the sailors in the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta, Sardinia faced a different challenge on a testing racecourse where reading the pressure accurately as it oscillated, faded and built around the course, was everything. With many of the teams coming into the regatta with new combinations and new sailors to the America’s Cup, today there were simply no hiding places and once again the cream rose to the top amidst some thrilling and utterly compelling on-water battles.

Overnight leaders Luna Rossa 1 Women & Youth were looking to capitalise on their form of yesterday but struggled in the first race as a poor manoeuvre in the pre-start took them off their foils and the team also reported telemetry issues, leaving them in catch-up mode.

Up front however, the powerhouse teams of Luna Rossa 2 with three-time America’s Cup winner Peter Burling as skipper, and Emirates Team New Zealand skippered by Nathan Outteridge had what can only be described as an ‘arm-wrestle’ of epic proportions. The Kiwis came out on top and took control of their destiny towards the final and followed up with solid results over the next two races to finish in the coveted second place ahead of two more races tomorrow to decide the pairing for the final.

The story of the day was Athena Pathway in race two who showed composure and nerves of steel after capitalising on others’ mistakes and then displaying some of the finest front-running to take a 37 second victory – huge at this level in fully equalised one-design AC40s.

Speaking afterwards, 20-year-old Sam Webb who was trimming today, was just buzzing, saying: “I think I was grinning pretty hard after that. Cracking race, and we just sailed well as a team, and the guys did a great job. So yeah, everything came together. It’s a real privilege to sail with all these guys, and great to see the training’s paying off.”

Port Helm Ellie Aldridge, Olympic gold medallist summarised the feeling onboard saying: “It was definitely conditions where when you’re ahead and you’re able to sail your own race, it felt a lot more comfortable. We tried to sail as well as we could but it was very changeable, but you should’ve seen Sam’s face at the end. He just had the biggest grin!”

Athena Pathway’s win was a validation of the team’s efforts over the past five years, led by Hannah Mills OBE, and was a hugely popular win in the Race Village in downtown Cagliari.

The home favourites however, Luna Rossa used Race 2 to very much come back into the regatta. Marco Gradoni and Margherita Porro brought Luna Rossa 1 home in second place and then won in fine style on the very last leg of Race 3 to seal their place at the top of the leaderboard as the stand-out performers here in Sardinia. They had to work for it with Emirates Team New Zealand 1 pushing hard, and their stablemates Luna Rossa 2 (the principle team) always in the running.

Speaking afterwards, Marco Gradoni was eyeing the final with a laser-like focus that belies his 22 years of age, saying: “Today was not an easy day. We managed to do well after the big mistake that we did in the first start. So I’m proud, it was not easy. About the final, I think we still have to do a good race. That’s our goal. We are going to be still focused about the fleet races, and then if we have the chance to win the final, I think we’re going to get ready to perform on the match race.”

When asked about the pressure he must be feeling sailing against the might of Emirates Team New Zealand, the current Defenders of the America’s Cup, Marco was unequivocal, saying: “I think they are the best in the world, but also us, we are the best in the world. So it’s a war between Titans now. They have a lot of experience. They are by far the best in the game, but we have our chance, we have our skill as a team, and we’re going to prove to them what we are capable of. For us, it’s like a big honour, a lot of pressure, but we love it. I love pressure. I love to have this privilege.”

Elsewhere it was a tough day at the office for many with plenty of take-aways on a day where the teams used all three of their jib headsails as the breeze built and faded as the expected sea-breeze abated.

One of the stand-out performances of the week has come from the Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth Team who have consistently been just off the top-three teams but always there at the front of the mid-pack. Skippered by foiling dinghy star Jake Pye with Erica Dawson on co-helm and Olympian Josh Armit and Serena Woodall on trim, the team sit in fourth overall.

Speaking after racing, Serena Woodall put their regatta in perspective saying: “We came into this with no expectations, and it’s all just been about learning every race and growing as a team and doing as well as we can. For us, it’s more about the long term, solidifying some learnings and seeing what we can take forward into the rest of the campaign, and just consistency and getting better race by race.”

As one of the leading women in the America’s Cup, Serena added: “It’s an incredible opportunity, and it feels like it’s a really cool transition time in the sport. I guess taking out the physicality aspect of the roles onboard means they can open up to having more females onboard, and that’s not a disadvantage anymore. So I think it’s really about bridging the gap at the moment, and Emirates Team New Zealand’s been doing an awesome job at that and really getting us involved, trying to upskill us as much as possible. So super grateful for the opportunity, and I hope I can solidify it for generations to come.”

For La Roche-Posay Racing Team, it was an up and down day where they showed plenty of potential and some flashes of brilliance. Diego Botín, Olympic gold medallist, was realistic with how the team was doing, saying: “The spirit of the team is really good. We have some really good moments, and the reason why is because the team is working properly. We’ve only done under 25 days on the water after today in these boats, so it’s something normal. We’re obviously frustrated because we would like to be higher up in the standings, and we would like not to be making those mistakes, but it’s part of the process, and we’re happy where we are.”.

Tudor Team Alinghi had a challenging day on the water that even involved a capsize after a mis-communication downwind on a gybe. Phil Robertson, co-helm, summarised the day saying: “We were fighting the boat all day and just trying to find some solutions to it and to our issues and just couldn’t quite find it. And then as sailors as well, we just really struggled to get in the groove. It was tough all around.”

For GB1, the Challenger of Record, their day was over before racing began and the team were forced to retire after they lost control of the flap on the port side foil. The team issued a statement saying: “After investigation, it was quickly identified that the AC40 race boat was not sailable.” The team hope that their superb shore team will be able to fix the issue overnight to complete the last two fleet races of the series.

Sardinia is getting ready for what could be one of the most significant days in modern America’s Cup history with the Women & Youth team of Luna Rossa standing on the cusp of a victory that will stun the sailing world. Emirates Team New Zealand will come out swinging in the first two fleet races, and the final will certainly come down to a very different set of racing skills when the course is cleared of six boats and the final two do battle in a winner-takes-all one-on-one final race to decide the destiny of the first Prelim Regatta, her in beautiful Sardinia.

With fly-bys scheduled just metres off the waterfront at 2pm along the FanZone Lazzaretto and a thriving race village downtown along the Via Roma, Cagliari is the centre of the Cup world. It’s a spectacle that offers something for everyone.

Day 3 – Luna Rossa wins in Sardinia in sensational fashion

It was a day that a Hollywood script writer would find hard to write, but for the hometown favourites Luna Rossa it was one of both high elation and brutal disappointment in front of their incredible fans that have made this first Preliminary Regatta on the ‘Road to Naples’ so memorable.

Sardinia, and the port city of Cagliari, have played such magnificent hosts to the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup, and the final day of racing saw near-perfect conditions out on the Bay of Angels with 10-14 knots of readable breeze, a small wind chop and the brightest of blue skies above.

Going into today, all the talk dockside was about the remarkable form of Luna Rossa 1, the Women & Youth Team of Marco Gradoni and Margherita Porro. It seemed almost inevitable that they would at least seal a place in the Final after a stellar series, however the sporting Gods had very different ideas. Battling onboard technical issues with their time-on-distance displays, the Italian team were called over the line in the first race and, unable to expunge their penalty in time, were ultimately disqualified. They still led the overall standings going into the final race, but another OCS put paid to their charge.

It was left to the senior teams of both Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand to fight it out for the overall title, a tantalising prospect that pitted former team-mates Nathan Outteridge and Peter Burling against each other in the winner-takes-all battle for the magnificent trophy crafted by Sardinian sculptor, Roberto Ziranu.

A rare mistake from Nathan Outteridge with 52 seconds to go when in the command position on the lead-back to the starting line, gifted a clear start for Luna Rossa mid-line as Emirates Team New Zealand battled the clock on a time-on-distance run to the port (left) end of the line. As the starting clock ticked down, the Kiwi’s judgement was out by a fraction and they were called over the line early and required to drop 75 metres back behind the charging Luna Rossa who held all the aces over the next six legs. Try as they could, the Kiwis could never get fully back in contention as the Italians marked them out around the course in a display of supreme tactical acumen and ability. The finishing delta was 33 seconds and the momentum swing in this America’s Cup cycle went decisively the way of Luna Rossa.

Crossing the finishing line with Umberto Molineris’s fist in the air, all around the Bay of Angels, the on-water spectator fleet honked their horns in recognition of their hometown heroes, and the Celebration Moment was conducted onboard amidst sprays of champagne and the traditional ‘Winners’ banner being prominently displayed by the crew on deck.

Peter Burling, three-time Cup winner came ashore afterwards elated with the win in front of the cheering hometown support, saying: “I think all week we’ve felt like we’ve been sailing a lot better than the performances showed. Both days we just made a couple of little mistakes that kind of put us out of having the best day into kind of the second or third-best day. So, I’m just really proud of the way the group kept fighting for that performance and kept improving the way we were going about things, and we put together a really strong plan today and went out and executed it and I’m super-proud of the way we did that under quite a bit of pressure. We were gutted we couldn’t race our Youth and Women’s team in the final. They’ve been really setting the benchmark of what you can do with an AC40 this whole week but obviously had a tough day today but stoked to take a win for Luna Rossa in my first event.”

Max Sirena, CEO of Luna Rossa, reflected on what was an outstanding day for the team overall, despite the disappointment with the Women & Youth Team Saying: “When you get the chance to have two boats in the final, you want to take it, no? So it’s a little bit of a bittersweet victory, because we could have ended up with two boats in the Final. But this is sport, it’s part of the game. We’re going to review. For sure we did some mistakes, for sure we had a few issues with the technical software and the racing software, but that’s no excuse. But it’s good. It’s nice. Every time when you win, you should enjoy the victory, and everything is a lesson for the future.”

With crowds surrounding him, Sirena added: “I was saying to a few people when we were at the dock that I will never thank enough Cagliari, Sardinia, and all the fans for coming here for this weekend. I never saw so many people for a sailing event and so I’m super-thankful to the Cagliari people, and to the organisers, to the authorities, to the locals, to the volunteers – all of them. It’s great. I think it’s a big start. It’s a good start for this new cycle.”

Beaten finalist Nathan Outteridge was sanguine and ruing a day where they failed to cover the Luna Rossa move 52 seconds out from the starting gun and then were over the line early at the far end of the line: “We were about 0.8 of a second early for the pin in the end, unfortunately. But up until that, it was a pretty cool pre-start. There was a lot of manoeuvres being thrown at it, and we just needed to go with them (when they tacked off) – and that was the mistake we made. That’s the difference between thinking fleet racing for a whole week or two weeks and then you’re thrust into the match race. I’m sure if we were a little more polished on just focusing on the match racing events we would’ve known every time you go there. Because if we tacked there at that moment, they’re in a lot of pain, they’ve got a lot on. And so that’s why I’m kicking myself because I’ve done that move with Pete (Burling) several times and we let him off the hook in that one. But we’ll have plenty more times to go toe to toe.”

Marzio Perrelli, Chief Executive Officer of the America’s Cup Partnership reflected on what has been a spectacular regatta in Sardinia, saying: “Terrific regatta, terrific organisation. This is the start of a new journey that will take us from Cagliari down to Naples in September, and then in June of the next year. So, I think it’s a great start and the bar has been set pretty high, and I’m extremely confident that this Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup edition will be a great success.”

Down in the Race Village after an eventful and thrilling day, the Luna Rossa Women & Youth team of Margherita Porro, Maria Giubilei, Marco Gradoni and Giovanni Santi collected the Women & Youth trophy before an adoring and appreciative audience before the senior team came to the stage. The crew of Peter Burling, Ruggero Tita, Umberto Molineris and Vittorio Bissaro plus reserves Gigi Ugolini and Federico Colaninno welcomed coach Josh Junior and Team CEO Max Sirena to the stage. In a nice touch, the team also brought out shore team members plus the Women & Youth sailors behind their ‘Winners banner’ and lifted the magnificent trophy on behalf of whole Luna Rossa family.

Sardinia has played host to one of the highest quality regattas in terms of action on the water, whilst off the water the town has been alive to the America’s Cup with huge crowds every day enjoying both the Race Village and the FanZone Lazzaretto. Undoubtedly the regatta has set the bar high ahead of the second Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta planned for Naples on the 24-27th September 2026.

Be there.

For more information, visit www.americascup.com