Podcast: “It starts with a dream”: Glenn Ashby on Australia’s AC38 challenge - The Foil Podcast - Ep 20

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“The time is now,” decorated sailor Glenn Ashby tells The Foil’s Freddie Carr in an exclusive interview on Team Australia’s newly-minted challenge for the 38th America’s Cup. 

In a long-promised one-on-one with The Foil, Ashby tells his old friend about how Australia’s return to the Cup for the first time since 2000 came together, and how by the end of this year an expansion to “80-100 people” must be complete.

The feeling and process of building up a team from scratch carries echoes for Ashby of his part in Emirates Team New Zealand’s victory in the 2017 Cup in Bermuda. He also reflects on the technical support from the Kiwi effort this time via the shared design philosophy. “We wouldn’t be in Naples next year without the support of ETNZ,” he admits.

Ashby predicts much tighter performance between the teams than we saw in the 2024 AC37 in Barcelona, and explains what success will look like for the Australians following their relatively late entry for Naples.

Before the Ashby interview, The Foil’s team discuss other matters of the moment, including the 49er, 49FX and Nacra 17 World Championships in France. Andy Rice, who was part of the live stream commentary team in Quiberon Bay, gives us the lowdown and presents a pair of interviews: one with new 49er World Champions Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush, the other with Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei who clinched the Nacra 17 crown.

NEXT UP: PODCAST EXTRA
Keep an eye on the channel this week for an extra show, as Tom ‘Mozzy’ Morris and Freddie Carr preview the AC38 Preliminary Regatta which takes place in Cagliari this weekend. The duo dissect the teams and crew line-ups as the build-up to Naples in 2027 properly begins.

And check out Mozzy’s analysis of who’s in, who’s out and why.

00:00:00 Start
00:07:54 Young Kiwis dominate 49er World Championships
00:18:50 Debating the new Olympic sailing medal format
00:24:26 Nacra 17 champions Gigi and Maria interview
00:32:21 Are Team New Zealand underdogs for the prelims?
00:38:10 Glenn Ashby on the Team Australia Challenge
00:52:43 What will win the next America's Cup?
01:07:07 Paul Cayard and the Defi Wind foiling festival