Benedict Donovan
The Foil Weekly Wrap - 9 Feb '26
Sixteen-year-olds stealing the show in Hong Kong, Peninsula Racing ending a near-decade of frustration, and a legal challenge asking whether the America's Cup has strayed too far from its roots. Plus: Auckland prepares for 30,000...
Lanzarote crowns its 2026 champions as Olympic cycle gathers pace
The 2026 Lanzarote International Regatta wrapped up on Thursday with a light-wind finale that demanded every ounce of tactical nous from sailors who'd already been put through the wringer by a week of wildly varied conditions.
The results are in! What's missing in sailing media?
A week ago we asked a simple question: what stops you following more of the sport, and what would make it easier? The answers came back loud, specific, and slightly exasperated. The survey is still open if you want to have your...
Coutts wants teams hunting for young blood
SailGP has a bit of an age problem. As Tom ‘Mozzy’ Morris points out in his recent video for The Foil, the sailors who cut their teeth on the AC50 foiling cats during the 2017 America's Cup in Bermuda still dominate the circuit.
Burvill and Puttman crowned F18 World Champions
Brett Burvill and Max Puttman are the 2026 F18 World Champions after a nerveless final day performance at Jervoise Bay, Western Australia. The Australian duo sealed victory with a race win and a ninth, finishing eight points...
The Foil Weekly Wrap - 2 Feb '26
Ernesto Bertarelli wants Luna Rossa to win the America's Cup. Yes, really. That's just one of the eyebrow-raisers from a week that also brought a heroic F50 repair job, Riptide being tossed a potential lifeline, and Harry Melges...
Quentin Debois smashes Mini 6.50 transatlantic record by six days
Another week, another Atlantic record tumbles. Belgian skipper Quentin Debois has smashed the world record for crossing the Atlantic east to west aboard a Mini 6.50, completing the 4,466-nautical-mile passage from Cadiz to San...
Iain ‘Goobs’ Jensen joins ETNZ
Some deals in sport just make sense. Iain Jensen signing for Emirates Team New Zealand is absolutely one of them. When Pete Burling and Josh Junior packed their bags for Luna Rossa last year, they left a gaping hole in New...
How to unite the fractured world of sailing
This morning at boot Düsseldorf, a new initiative was announced: World Sailing Day, designed to "promote all types of sailing, inspire new audiences, and strengthen the sport's future across generations and continents". It's a...
Valencia joins SailGP calendar in three-year deal
SailGP has found itself a new Spanish home, and it's a good one. Valencia, the Mediterranean city that twice hosted the America's Cup, will stage the Spain Sail Grand Prix from September 2026 as part of a three-year commitment...
The Famous Project crew complete first all-female non-stop circumnavigation
They crossed the line battered, bruised and sailing under a makeshift rig. But none of that mattered. After 57 days and 22 hours at sea, the eight women aboard the maxi trimaran IDEC SPORT became the first all-female crew to...
Sodebo claims Jules Verne Trophy after 40 days of relentless ocean racing
After 40 days at sea, Thomas Coville and his crew crossed the finish line looking every bit as battered as their boat, finally claiming the prize that had eluded them for six years. Crossing the virtual finish line between Ushant...
AC38: 6 key questions that still need answers
The launch event in the Palazzo Reale di Napoli for the 38th America's Cup this week was certainly impressive. But in terms of things actually learned? We're not left with a whole lot more than we already knew from the America’s...
AC38: 6 things we learned today in Naples
Against the opulent backdrop of Naples' Palazzo Reale – all frescoed ceilings and gilded mirrors – the America's Cup teams, sponsors, and organisers gathered this morning to officially launch the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup.
The Ocean Race route announced for 2027
The Ocean Race 2027 will open with the longest first leg in the event's 53-year history, organisers confirmed today. The fleet departs Alicante on 17 January 2027, bound for Auckland – a 14,000-nautical-mile passage that will...
