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 IV reminding everyone why he's one to watch. Let’s get into it.

Tudor Alinghi's new team director David Endean isn't sugar-coating the situation. The 47-year-old Kiwi, who has six Cup campaigns on his CV including stints with Artemis and INEOS UK, admits the Swiss team are playing catch-up after their withdrawal and subsequent return to the fray. 

The team’s AC75, BoatOne, suffered severe damage after last year's campaign and needs structural testing before they can even think about serious sailing. They're building a new team from scratch – albeit with familiar faces such as Nicolas Rolaz rejoining and conversations happening with former driver Arnaud Psarofaghis. But with Luna Rossa and Team New Zealand looking formidable, Endean concedes: “We feel a bit like the underdog.”

Ernesto Bertarelli, the man bankrolling the operation, has his eyes fixed on the long game. The billionaire was instrumental in pushing through the America's Cup Partnership – the 800-page document that promises central governance, cost caps, and a more collaborative future for the event. 

Bertarelli sees it as a quantum leap for the sport, drawing parallels with Formula 1's commercial structure. “Unfortunately we are late because we have stopped and we have to restart the team,” he acknowledged. “But it's when it goes wrong that you learn. And in Barcelona we learned a lot.”

When asked about his favourite to win, Bertarelli didn't hedge his bets. “I would like to see Patrizio Bertelli win the America's Cup. Certainly this time they are in the best position of all.” A surprising show of goodwill toward a direct rival – and a clear admission that the Swiss are thinking in cycles rather than expecting glory in Naples.

There's a glimmer of hope for US-based Riptide Racing after Emirates Team New Zealand confirmed the late entry deadline has been pushed back from 31 January to 31 March. 

Chris Poole's squad, challenging through the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, announced their intentions in December with a $50 million fundraising target – though they reckoned $30 million might get them over the line. That extra two months of wriggle room could prove crucial for a team still hunting sponsors.

But the odds remain steep: new builds take 10–12 months from sign-off to commissioning, and with racing set to begin in May 2027, time is brutally tight. American Magic have confirmed they're sitting this one out, leaving their 2024 assets gathering dust in storage. Riptide's best hope may be convincing someone to part with an existing design package – but even then, Grant Dalton reckons there's 20,000 hours of work modifying an old hull to meet the new rules. Good luck to them. They'll need it.

After the shock of Perth's opening weekend – a collision with Switzerland that left their F50's port hull in tatters – the Black Foils are back in business. SailGP Technologies have pulled off what's being described as the league's biggest-ever in-season repair, manufacturing a new hull section at their Southampton facility before flying it to New Zealand. 

The damaged parts will touch down in Auckland on 4 February and will be bonded at C-Tech's West Auckland workshop, with test sailing pencilled in for 13 February – just a day before racing begins.

Blair Tuke says the team is “absolutely pumped” at the prospect of competing on home waters after all. The Auckland event drew over 10,000 fans last year and the narrow confines of Waitematā Harbour create something approaching a stadium atmosphere. 

With a full fleet of 13 F50s on the start line, Tuke reckons it could be an unreal weekend – and after the heartbreak of missing Perth, the Black Foils will be desperate to deliver their first event win in front of a home crowd.

There's something beautifully fitting about a 33-boat fleet lining up for the 33rd edition of this 360-nautical mile Gulf classic. The D2M takes crews from Dubai through the shallow, ship-heavy waters of the Strait of Hormuz and into the Indian Ocean swell, threading past Omani mountains and navigating tidal gates that reward patience as much as pace.

After three days at sea, Xavier Bouin's Dragonfly 40C Tan 3 has broken clear and leads both line honours and the multihull division with less than 80nm to run, though a potential penalty looms. Heaven Can Wait sits second after a brutal 24 hours that included wrecking their A5, while on corrected time it's a dogfight between last year's winners Nagini, the double-handed crew on Matrix, and a pack of boats still very much in the hunt.

New Zealand's status as a sailing superpower isn't built on America's Cup campaigns alone – it's forged in regattas like Oceanbridge Sail Auckland, where the next generation sharpens its teeth against international competition. This year's edition at Torbay Sailing Club drew over 160 sailors from 14 countries, including several Paris 2024 Olympians, and the Kiwi contingent more than held its own.

The headline act was Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush, who demolished the 49er fleet by more than 30 points to defend their title. The pair have been on a tear since winning last year's Europeans in Greece, and with the McKiwis – Isaac McHardie and Will McKenzie – stepping back from Olympic campaigning after their Paris silver, Menzies and Lee Rush look increasingly like the team to beat for LA 2028. 

Elsewhere, George Gautrey pushed Britain's Micky Beckett all the way in the ILCA 7, while Switzerland's Maud Jayet pipped America's Erika Reineke by a single point in the ILCA 6. Four days of light-air racing, world-class fields, and homegrown talent rising to meet them.

World Sailing Test Event, Fortaleza

Britain's Matilda Nicholls and Hannah Snellgrove delivered a one-two in the women's ILCA 6, while Singapore's Maximilian Maeder took two wins in the medal series to claim the men's Kite. Elsewhere, Brazil's Gustavo Canovas Kiessling delighted the home crowd by taking the men's ILCA 7, China's Wan Li topped the women's Kite, and the iQFOiL titles went to AIN athletes Egor Zhilin and Taisia Stopchenko. This was the dress rehearsal for next year's World Sailing Championships, and Fortaleza's notorious strong winds gave athletes and organisers alike a proper taste of what's to come in January 2027.

F18 World Championships, Jervoise Bay WA

Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby have stormed into the lead heading into the final day, turning a seven-point deficit into a ten-point advantage after a clinical 2, 2, 4 scoreline on Day 4. Bundock / Ashby are now at the top of the standings on 30 points, with Burvill / Puttman 10 back in second and Homan / Bilston a further 4 back in third.

Worth noting for SailGP fans: Ashby now appears on the Flying Roos' crew list as a reserve after being flown in last-minute for Perth, though Iain 'Goobs' Jensen was spotted this week training with Emirates Team New Zealand. Will we see Goobs back on the F50 in Auckland, or will Ashby step in again? Watch this space – and keep an eye out for the F18 final results tomorrow.

Bacardi Winter Series Event 1, Miami

Harry Melges IV is making a habit of winning things. The 24-year-old steered his Zenda Express to victory in the Melges 24 class – which doubled as the North American Championship – closing out the 28-boat fleet with two race wins on the final day. Melges is now on the books as Team USA's reserve in SailGP, and performances like this suggest it's only a matter of time before we see him on an F50.

Meanwhile in the J/70s, Bruce Golison and Midlife Crisis finally broke through after years on the podium, winning four of eight races to claim overall victory ahead of David Jannetti's Too Odd and John Heaton's Empeiria.