Benedict Donovan
Recon from the Hauraki Gulf: Unpacking ETNZ's first week back with Taihoro
Emirates Team New Zealand have now logged three of their 45 permitted AC75 sailing days in the January 2026–January 2027 window. Taihoro, the AC75 that won the 37th America's Cup in Barcelona, is back on the Hauraki Gulf –...
GB1 back on the water and wasting no time in Cagliari
GB1, the rebranded British Challenger of Record, hit the water for the first time since AC37 last week – and there was nothing tentative about the return. The team took their AC40 out in Cagliari in conditions that would test any...
France reveals stacked AC38 crew as K-Challenge becomes La Roche-Posay Racing Team
The French challenger for the 38th America's Cup has a new name, a new title sponsor and a crew that reads like a greatest-hits compilation of Olympic and professional sailing. K-Challenge will compete in Naples as La Roche-Posay...
The Foil Weekly Wrap - 16 March ’26
From Sydney Harbour skiff chaos to Cape Horn crossings, Kiwi AC75 recon to a new 470 title in Vilamoura, it's been another stacked week across the sailing world. Here's everything you need to know… Britain’s Martin Wrigley and...
AC38 crew line-ups slowly coming into focus
Both Luna Rossa and GB1 are out training in Cagliari this week, their AC40s carving up the Bay of Angels as the countdown to the first preliminary regatta of the 38th America's Cup ticks under 70 days. Come May 21-24, a maximum...
The one that got away: How Paul Cayard won the 99th Bacardi Cup
Paul Cayard started sailing at eight years old in a tiny El Toro dinghy on San Francisco Bay. Nearly six decades later, he's still at it – and still winning. His career spans every corner of the sport: seven America's Cups, two...
The Foil Weekly Wrap - 9 March '26
Legends, records, and wild weather dominated the sailing world this week, with Paul Cayard finally claiming his white whale, Hetairos tearing up the record books in Antigua, and the first AC75 of this Cup cycle to hit the water...
Taihoro '2.0' unveiled as ETNZ prepare to be first AC75 on the water
Emirates Team New Zealand have pulled the covers off their evolved AC75 'Taihoro' at the team's Wynyard Point base in Auckland, with the defender set to become the first boat of the 38th America's Cup cycle to hit the water when...
China Sea Race: Team Alive-Rampage fends off Centennial V for line honours
Team Alive-Rampage crossed the finish line in Subic Bay on Friday afternoon to claim line honours in the 2026 Rolex China Sea Race, completing the 565-nautical-mile crossing from Hong Kong in 49 hours, 55 minutes and 57 seconds.
Is SailGP's format broken? The fans weigh in
In his video last week, Tom ‘Mozzy’ Morris took aim at one of SailGP's most controversial design choices: the opening sprint leg. Starting the fleet on a full 90-degree reach puts the F50s straight into what many sailors call the...
Botín and Trittel join France’s America’s Cup ‘K-Challenge’
It was always going to happen eventually. Diego Botín and Florian Trittel have confirmed they’re entering the America’s Cup, joining France's K-Challenge for the 38th edition in Naples. The reigning 49er Olympic champions will...
Rolex China Sea Race fleet sets sail from Hong Kong with records in the crosshairs
The 2026 Rolex China Sea Race got underway this morning from Victoria Harbour, with 20 international teams setting off on the 565-nautical-mile crossing to Subic Bay on the island of Luzon, Philippines. First held in 1962, it's...
Coutts confirms safety overhaul – but is SailGP ahead of the game or playing catch-up?
Following the collision in Auckland that put Louis Sinclair and Manon Audinet in hospital, Russell Coutts confirmed at Sydney's press conference that engineering teams are deep into design reviews. That includes looking at...
The Foil Weekly Wrap - 2 March '26
This week Caribbean racing delivered maxi drama, offshore heroics, and a scow that's putting IRC orthodoxy into question. Elsewhere, Finn history was made in Brisbane, a record fleet turned out in Vilamoura on the path to LA2028,...
United States master light winds for shock Sydney win
The Sydney Sail Grand Prix served up conditions nobody expected – seven knots of breeze, both hulls planted in the water, and a fleet of F50s reduced to crawling across one of sailing's most famous venues. Forget the 50-knot...
