The America’s Cup will return to the water in the Gulf of Angels, out in front of the city of Cagliari; the capital of Sardinia and the home of fellow Challengers Luna Rossa. The action starts on the 21st May and will run to the 24th. Five America’s Cup teams (GBR, NZL, ITA, FRA, SUI) will race, three of them (GBR, NZL, ITA) also fielding a second of the one-design foiling AC40 yachts, crewed by Women’s and Youth America’s Cup sailors.
The AC40 debuted for the Preliminary Regattas and the Youth and Women’s America’s Cups in the 37th America's Cup (AC37) and is back from the same role for the 38th America's Cup (AC38).
These are smaller one-design yachts with a crew of four, and all the America’s Cup teams use them for training and testing control systems. The bigger, team-designed AC75 America’s Cup race boats will gather in Naples in the spring of 2027 to compete for the ultimate sailing trophy between May and July.
The Preliminary Regatta in Cagliari will be the first time Sir Ben Ainslie’s British challenge has competed since becoming the most successful British America’s Cup team in 90 years after winning the Challenger Series, entering the America’s Cup Match and scoring points against Defender Emirates Team New Zealand back in Barcelona in 2024. While the one-design AC40 boats that teams will race in Cagliari will provide no clues on how the design challenge is shaping up, they do allow the sailing teams a chance to flex their muscles.
“When I look at the team right now, rebuilding from where we left off in Barcelona, it’s about seeing people really gel and making sure the new team members are given the support and opportunity to grow,” said Team Principal Sir Ben Ainslie. “Chemistry is incredibly important in any sports team. At the end of the day, it’s all about the people. You’ve got to have the best individuals, but they also have to work well together. That sounds obvious, but it’s much harder in practice.”
The Athena Pathway crew will also be returning to America’s Cup competition after its performance in 2024 where the team finished runners-up in the Women’s America’s Cup, and the Youth team placed third. The AC40 is sailed with a helm and trimmer combination on each side of the boat, and for Cagliari, the Women’s team will provide the drivers, and the two Youth crew members will trim.
“It’s going to be great to watch,” said Sir Ben Ainslie, who founded the Athena Pathway Programme alongside Hannah Mills OBE in 2022. “It’ll be fantastic to see the AC40s on the start line in Cagliari in a couple of weeks. It’s going to be an amazing spectacle. The teams have been training hard, and we’re just looking for a strong showing. Race day is what it’s all about—it’ll be a proud moment to see the GB1 and Athena Pathway crews out there competing.”
The format has the teams competing in an opening series of fleet races. If conditions allow, up to eight races will decide the rankings using a cumulative scoring system with 10 points for each race win down to three points for eighth place. After which, the top two in the standings will face each other in a winner-takes-all final that will determine the overall Preliminary Regatta winner.
All the action can be followed on AmericasCup.com and watched Free-To-View in the UK on America’s Cup YouTube Channel. Check out the team’s social pages for the latest news and updates both ahead of and during the racing. There will be breaking news, behind-the-scenes features, videos, photos and lots more.