It’s a major operation getting an AC75 launched. The boat and mast come out of the shed on trollies, the mast is stepped via a huge crane on the shore, the boat itself is then craned in, and the systems are checked by the technical team. The hull is the sistership of Emirates Team New Zealand’s AC75 which won the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona, so they French have an excellent starting platform to work with, but with the change from 8 to 5 crew, and the cyclors replaced by battery-powered energy systems, the internals of the boat will be unrecognisable from the last America’s Cup. All the teams have to use the previous generation of hulls, aiming to contain costs, but have been allowed to make minor structural modifications up to 4 square metres, but this is for internal system changes, not shape changes. Apart from the reduced crew numbers and batteries, the major developments will be in foil wings and flaps, as well as sailing control systems. This is where the Kiwis excelled in Barcelona, gliding through the tacks with exceptional efficiency, and expect a huge amount of development work to go into creating similar systems, although the Emirates Team New Zealand patent on their ‘elastic luff’ system may force them to come up with different ways to achieve the same result. After all the checks it was finally time for the team to go sailing, and the La Roche-Posay Racing Team officially became the first team to sail their AC75 in Naples, the host city for the 38th America’s Cup. From word go it’ll be all about collecting data and testing systems, with a cap of 45 days on the water in the lead-up to the event. Countless hours will be spent pouring over the information to try and work out what gains can be made, and how to achieve an advantage over their rivals. Any major innovations will be shrouded in secrecy, as has always been the way with the America’s Cup. Thumbnail photo (c) Pierre Bouras / America's Cup #sailing #americascup #naples

Ferrari Hypersail is a project like no other, and has brought together experts from automotive, aeronautics, and of course the marine world, to build a yacht which is teeming with new ideas and new engineering. It is truly pushing the boundaries of what is possible and trying to do it in as efficient a way as possible. Seeing the hull for the first time is awe-inspiring. I’d seen the yacht through the virtual reality googles at Maranello earlier in the year, but nothing quite prepares you for the size and scale of the boat. When the foils and spars are attached its going to look even more impressive, and I am looking forward to that moment early in 2027 with anticipation. Bringing the engineers together to design and build a yacht like this has been an incredible task. Each have their own ideas as to what makes a good system, so getting the best out of each of them, and then turning that into a harmonious whole required months of work, but the overall result is extraordinary as well as beautiful. The team are still expecting issues to arise. So many of the systems are untested in the real world, and the salt air and conditions they will encounter will push Ferrari Hypersail to the limit, but the attention to details is phenomenal, and any problems won’t be down to corners being cut, as this is a yacht were the finest of details have been considered. During my trip to the yard I spoke to Technical Team Leader Marco Guglielmo Ribigini, the Tech Team’s Gianluca Fenati, who came from the Formula 1 team at Maranello about some of the challenges of bringing an engineering team like this together, and also Enrico Voltalini about his pathway in sailing, and what it means to be involved in a project like Ferrari Hypersail. Everywhere you look in the shipyard there is something impressive, but the wing arm interface is an engineering marvel. Each side of the hull there is a mechanism made of milled titanium which will hold and move the wing arm up and down for each tack, and on the end of each of those wing arms is the massive 9-metre-wide hydrofoil, made of carbon and titanium with that 0.6mm titanium shield, protecting the carbon fibre structure from cavitation erosion. The loads on the interface are immense, and I astounded to find out that the wing arms are also retractable, bringing the foil closer to the hull when up and in dock. #sailing #ferrarihypersail # ferrari

Lake Garda is a bucket-list venue for sailors and a mecca of the foiling world for a very good reason. When the Ora is on song it’s nearly unbeatable and the Switch foils whistle to its tune. The Switch has given these sailors a fast, one design platform to enjoy the lake at its best. The racing is tight, the fleet inseparable at times, and the competition is intense. Sailors are flocking the class as it’s being everything that was promised and allowing sailors to test themselves against the best, knowing that the equipment their rivals use is identical to what they have. You may not win, but you’ll come away with so much knowledge on how to foil fast and have an immense amount of fun in the process. Put simply, it’s the boat that the sailors want. Read the full daily report at https://www.sail-world.com/news/300615/Switch-Global-Championship-2026-Day-3 Thumbnail photo (c) CodeZero Digital #sailing #foiling #lakegarda

In a day of two halves on Lake Garda, the northerly Pelèr thermal wind was the winner, powering three spectacular races, while after lunch, fuelled by Italian espresso and pasta, the Ora proved to be a damp squib, flattering to deceive, with the sailors and their foiling one design dinghies being towed back to the Circolo Vela Torbole when it fell away to nothing. Results can be found at https://www.racingrulesofsailing.org/documents/15885/event and the full daily report can be read at https://www.sail-world.com/news/300596/Switch-Global-Championship-2026-Day-2 Grazie molto to CodeZero Digital for the thumbnail photo and drone footage in this video. #sailing #foiling #lakegarda

57 sailors from 16 nations have gathered at Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy for the Switch one design foiling dinghy Global Championship. It was a windless start on Thursday as rain in the morning left clouds hugging the mountainside and put paid to any chance of the famous Ora wind developing, leaving the sailors to check their rigs and chat over coffee in the stunning surroundings. At 4.15pm, Race Officer Tim Hancock gave the order for the postponement flag to be dropped, and replaced with AP over A, signalling no racing was going to be possible until Friday. I took the chance to catch up with Irish sailor Annalise Murphy, silver medallist in the ILCA 6 class at the Rio 2016 Olympics, to chat about her return to sailing and how she’s balancing life and sport. The fleet packed up ready for an early start on Friday where a strong northerly Pelèr wind is forecast to come switching to the southern Ora in the afternoon, which should allow two sessions of racing to be completed either side of lunch. We’ll keep you posted with all the action. #sailing #lakegarda #foiling

It’s hard to overstate how important the Preliminary Regatta in Naples was for the America’s Cup, when on the surface it was just a show. On the face of it, the teams were sailing in the AC40s, rather than the AC75s they’ll be racing in the 38th America’s Cup next year, the Australian team weren’t there, and no points were on offer, but in reality this was a test for the teams, the sailors, the broadcast team, and most importantly for Naples itself as a venue. It came as a breath of fresh air to watch traditional windward-leeward racing again after the reaching starts in SailGP. Watching the teams line up had so much to it, especially with some deciding on port tack flyers to get to the favoured right hand side of the course. We’re used to seeing plenty of these in classes like the Moth and Switch, and with so many of the sailors regularly out in those classes it shouldn’t come a surprise to see them, but a port tack flyer in an AC40 is a whole different scale of crazy compared to a foiling singlehander. In a somewhat bizarre way, waiting for the wind was also refreshing. SailGP has to happen during their broadcast window, regardless of the wind strength, and I really quite enjoyed watching the replays and interviews while the breeze built in the Bay of Naples; it was worth the wait when it did happen each day. For the teams themselves, we began to see their sailing strengths and weaknesses. We can’t glean any design information from what we saw, as the AC40s are one design yachts, unlike the AC75s, which will be the same ones used in the 37th America’s Cup, with a few modifications, such as batteries instead of cyclors. Overall, Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand were the class acts throughout the weekend, securing their places in the final early and rarely showing any errors. Communications on board were calm and methodical, boat speed was good, combined with exceptional boat handling. Both teams switched seamlessly from fleet racing to match racing mode, with Luna Rossa executing a perfect pin end start while Emirates Team New Zealand had to tack away, starting a couple of seconds late. The Italians bossed the Kiwis, bouncing them repeatedly on the right hand side boundary upwind while controlling position on the downwind legs. The defection of Peter Burling from the Cup holders to the Italian challenger seems to have provided the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle, which may lead to Luna Rossa’s long sought-after America’s Cup victory. No-one ever doubts the Italian passion, but Burling has brought the cold, calculating, and sometimes brutal, Emirates Team New Zealand mindset, where it’s all about the numbers, the incremental gains, and executing the game plan. The fans were out in force in Naples, showing how the Italian city could push the event on another notch from the 37th edition in Barcelona. There’s no doubt that having the strong home nation taking part is a huge draw, and the Italian public need a national team to get behind, with their footballers seemingly unable to qualify for the big tournaments. The waterfront festival was well set up with big screens, stage and stalls, while an armada of vessels surrounded the race course on Sunday. Naples is proving to be ‘una grande città dello sport’ with the bay being a natural and brilliant amphitheatre for the event. The construction of the team bases at Bagnoli, just to the west of the main city, is continuing apace and it won’t be long until we see these bustling with the sailors, designers and crews working on the boats. The French AC75 was the first to arrive in Naples, coming in on a ship just before the preliminary regatta, and it’ll be great to see them out on the water in the bay. The America’s Cup has peaks and troughs aplenty, but this past weekend saw the event firmly on the upward trajectory, building to the main event in 2027. Thumbnail photo (c) Ian Roman / America's Cup #sailing #americascup #naples

We take a tour of the new Clipper RX yacht with Clipper Race Deputy Race Director Hannah Brewis during the Southampton Boat Show!

When it comes to the Clipper Race, Hannah Brewis has done it all. Starting as a First Mate during the Covid-affected race, on to Skipper in the last edition, and now she is the Deputy Race Director. I spoke to Hannah during the Southampton Boat Show to find out more about her journey, the appeal of the race, and the excitement of sailing the first of the new Clipper RX yachts which has now arrived in the UK. Want to find out more? Visit https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/campaign/clipper-race #sailing #roundtheworld #adventure

On Wednesday in Naples while practising ahead of the second Louis Vuitton Americas’ Cup Preliminary Regatta, the GB1 AC40 was involved in a collision with the Tudor Team Alinghi chase boat. Thankfully no-one was seriously injured, with GB1 helm Dylan Fletcher picking up a black eye, but the starboard foil arm of their AC40 was seriously damaged. We take a look at the collision, the damage, and how the shore team replaced the foil arm overnight with one donated by Tudor Team Alinghi while they repaired their own. We also hear from Dylan, as well as GB1 CEO Ian Walker. Thumbnail photo (c) Ian Roman / America's Cup #sailing #americascup #naples

I went to see Oliver Heer in Gosport to talk about the new (to him) IMOCA 'Embrace the Challenge', which was Jérémie Beyou's Charal. Ollie has recently completed The Ocean Race Atlantic, which was his first competitive outing on the boat and a huge learning experience for him and the team. We talked about installing the extra bunks, and the changes needed when sailing an IMOCA with five people on board, the data they gather, and what they learned from Beyou's team, what it's like on deck, how much of the role is a 'desk job' nowadays and the media requirements in The Ocean Race, including the 24/7 livestreaming, which is a huge draw on the power generation on board the yachts. #sailing #imoca #theoceanrace

After a gentle start to the racing against the clock due to very light conditions, the pace picked up a good hour into the competition. Indeed, in line with the forecasts, as the fleet of 17 IMOCAs gathered together for the Runs Azimut close to Lorient, the wind gradually filled in offshore of the island of Groix, where the battle for the fastest time was in full swing. After 80 cumulative attempts, today's honours went to Sam Goodchild who, in a repeat of his performance last year, produced another win in the first act of the Défi Azimut aboard Macif Santé Prévoyance. Better still: the 'Franco-British' skipper also treated himself to the luxury of beating the record time set in 2023 by Jérémie Beyou aboard Charal in what were ideal wind and sea conditions for really getting the best out of these constantly evolving jewels of technology. Read the full report at https://www.sail-world.com/news/299903/Defi-Azimut-Speed-Runs Thumbnail photo (c) Défi AZIMUT / Jean-Louis Carli #sailing #imoca #foiling

With light winds on Sunday at the Spain Sail Grand Prix in Valencia there were tricky decisions to be made by the SailGP teams, with strategy proving key and the choice of when to try and foil, and when to stick in lowriding mode proving critical. Here's our analysis of the four boat final, and the key moments which contributed to the overall result. Thumbnail photo (c) Andrew Baker for SailGP #sailing #sailgp #foiling

On Friday, ahead of the Spain Sail Grand Prix this weekend in Valencia, Hollywood heavyweights Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman settled their rivalry the only way they could: racing each other aboard F50 catamarans wearing custom Deadpool and Wolverine helmets designed by artist Painton. Hugh stepped onboard the BONDS Flying Roos’ Australian F50 while Ryan joined NorthStar Canada’s boat. Thumbnail photo (c) Jason Ludlow for SailGP #sailgp #deadpool #wolverine

The Ocean Race Atlantic has started with six IMOCA teams, each with two male, two female and one OBR (On Board Reporter) crewing. The fleet departed on Tuesday 1st September, but had to travel 150 miles offshore at a slow speed through a marine mammal zone, to have the real race starat on Wednesday 2nd September. We hear from the teams about their early tactics, take a look at the tracker to see where they are, and then get the latest from on board the yachts after 24 hours at sea. You can track the fleet at https://www.theoceanrace.com/ Full day 2 report at https://www.sail-world.com/news/299426/The-Ocean-Race-Atlantic-2026-Day-2 Thumbnail photo (c) Vincent Curutchet / The Ocean Race Atlantic #sailing #imoca #theoceanrace

The VX Air is a high performance two-person, single-trapeze dinghy designed by Brian Bennett, Ross Weene, and Mackay Boats. The hull is 4.78 metres long, that’s 15 foot 8 inches, and has a beam of 1.74 metres, or 5 foot 9 inches. The main sail is just over 10 metres squared, with a 4.61 metres squared jib and a 15.75 metres squared asymmetric spinnaker, which provides exceptional lift downwind. The asymmetric hoist system is via a soft chute, which exits around 30 centimetres from the bow and runs all the way back to the central controls, allowing a wet sail to drain. The main is sheeted off the boom and taken by the crew upwind and the helm downwind, while the jib is a self-tacker a track, making manoeuvres simplicity itself. The spars and asymmetric pole are carbon, with a mast height of 6.75 metres, while the foils consist of a daggerboard with a 1.11 metre draft and a kick-up rudder, combined with a carbon one-piece rudder stock and tiller. The boat is incredibly stable upwind, and the pitching was minimal sailing on Portland Harbour in a short chop and around 12-16 knots of wind, making for an easy ride for the crew on the trapeze. With the efficient hull form it was only when you looked at the pace of the chase RIB we had out that you realised just how quickly we were travelling. The ideal crew weight is between 125 and 150 kilograms, but Sam Pascoe and I had a good 20 kilos over this and the boat in no way felt sluggish or weighed down, as you can see, so I would put the weight range at wider than this suggestion. With the centrally led control lines the rig felt easy to depower, and downwind if you’re light you can simply go a little deeper. Where does the VX Air sit in amongst the range of dinghies already on the market? I think it’ll appeal to those who sail high-performance dinghies but want something with lighter sheet loads and a simple deck layout, while it will also appeal to youth sailors who are coming out of boats like the 29er and want to sail fast, but aren’t going into an Olympic class like the 49er or 49er FX. The VX Air certainly makes high-performance dinghy sailing more accessible, due to its stability. I remember many years ago being blown away by the VX One’s speed when I sailed it for a day at Cowes Week, and the Air has that same vibe, just without the keel and in a much smaller package. It’s the kind of boat I’d love to sail in a winter series event, as you’d be quick round the course and I had the feeling that I’d really have to mess up to capsize, which during the colder months when I’m out on the water less is a big plus. To find out more about the VX Air contact Ovington Boats: Email rob.richardson@ovingtonboats.co.uk or Phone 0191 2576011. #sailing #dinghysailing #dinghy

The rain was pouring for the Final in Sassnitz and the wind, which had been up and down all day, started strong, but by the end of the race was under 5 knots. The Australian Bonds Flying Roos took a low course at the start, while the Canadian Northstar team pushed both the New Zealand Black Foils and the Spanish Los Gallos up towards the windward end of the line, resulting in all three being far slower off the line than the Roos. The Australian team took control, while the Canadians held off the Spanish and New Zealand teams on a murky racecourse. The tight boundaries, as with all the weekend’s races, gave few passing lanes, with most overtakes happening when one of the boats fell off the foils. With the 18 metre rigs, falling into a lull was disastrous, which the Bonds Flying Roos had found out to their cost in the first race of the day, but they weren’t going to make the same mistake again. Linking the gusts was key, as it is in light wind races in the International Moth class, which helm Tom Slingsby has proved so good in over the years. The crowds cheered on in their wet weather gear as Australia wrapped up their fifth event win of the season and now hold a massive 14-point lead in the championship. Thumbail photo (c) Jonathan Nackstrand for SailGP #SailGP #sailing #foiling

Sassnitz in Germany is becoming known for its high speeds, and the teams were using the 18 metre rigs and high speed foils, which are currently the fastest combination in the F50 catamarans. Note this is an instantaneous speed on the bear away after the reaching start, so cannot be compared with the world speed record run of 65.45 knots by Sailrocket 2, which was the average speed over 500 metres. Nevertheless, hitting 107.63 kilometres per hour, or 58.11 knots, is hugely impressive. The teams were once again competing in two groups with Group A consisting of Spain, Switzerland, New Zealand, France, Denmark, Italy and Brazil and Group B comprising of Sweden, Canada, the United States, Australia, Germany and Great Britain At the end of the first day it’s the antipodean teams in the lead, with the New Zealand Black Foils heading Group A, and the all-conquering Bonds Flying Roos topping Group B. Read the full report at https://www.sail-world.com/news/299091/France-Set-New-SailGP-Speed-Record Thumbnail photo (c) Jason Ludlow for SailGP #SailGP #record #sailing

Black rain clouds & bonkers wind - what a finale for the end of the 2026 Noble Marine RS200 UK National Championship. After a slight delay for the last boats to launch the black clouds built and the fleet braced themselves for a roller-coaster ride. Read the final day report at https://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/299055/Noble-Marine-RS200-Nationals-at-Torquay-overall Drone video recorded by Harry Bowerman

The 2026 Fireball World Championship, hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club, saw 85 boats competing with sailors from 14 nations represented. The week saw a range of conditions, from high winds at the beginning to a light wind conclusion and just about everything in-between on Tor Bay. The legends of the class were celebrated midweek, while a host of younger sailors are coming through the ranks which is helping ensure that the high performance dinghy has a bright future. We take a look at the racing each day and talk to the sailors to find out more about the racing, the event, and the class itself. You can contact the Fireball Association via https://www.fireball-international.com/contacts internationally and via https://www.fireballsailing.org.uk/index.asp?pg=committee#maincontent in the UK. Daily reports can be found at: Day 1 https://www.sail-world.com/news/298368/Fireball-Worlds-at-Torbay-Day-1 Day 2 https://www.sail-world.com/news/298394/Fireball-Worlds-at-Torbay-Day-2 Day 3 https://www.sail-world.com/news/298422/Fireball-Worlds-at-Torbay-Day-3 Day 4 https://www.sail-world.com/news/298495/Fireball-Worlds-at-Torbay-Day-4 Day 5 https://www.sail-world.com/news/298519/Fireball-Worlds-at-Torbay-Overall A special thanks to Sean Jardine for composing the original music for this video and editing the daily sailing montages. Thank you to all the sponsors whose support helped make this championship possible: @pinnellandbaxltd P&B Sails, @North_Sails North Sails, @allensailing2284 Allen, Robline, @WessexResinsAndAdhesives WEST SYSTEM Pro-Set, @Seldenmast Seldén Mast, Windermark and the @wetsuit Wetsuit Outlet. #sailing #dinghysailing #torquay