The week in racing - 20 July ‘26

Olympic hopefuls chasing points on the future LA28 waters at Long Beach, the SSL Gold Cup dishing out its final European tickets to Rio in Switzerland, and fresh European champions crowned in the WASZP and ILCA fleets. And to top it all off, the AC38 schedule for next year has finally been revealed.

The Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta last week gave the world's windsurfers and kiters an early feel for the Belmont Shore waters that'll host sailing at LA28, and after a week of steady sea breezes it was a lighter, trickier finish that settled the medals.

In the men's iQFOiL, China’s Kun Bi flipped the script, reeling in Australia's Grae Morris – who'd topped qualifying – to snatch gold, with Britain's Andy Brown in third. Fellow Brit Emma Wilson was in a class of her own in the women's fleet, leading from the front all week.

The kiters served up a late twist too: while Maximilian Maeder cruised through the men's, Lauriane Nolot came from third in qualifying to pip pace-setter Jessie Kampman to the women's crown. The final Sailing Grand Slam event of the season now shifts across to San Pedro, with the ILCA and 470 fleets out this week and the skiffs and Nacra 17 crews to follow in early August. Full results here.

On Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, the SSL Gold Cup wrapped up its European qualifying with a nerve-shredding 'Golden Friday' – double points on offer and the last tickets to Rio up for grabs. In Group G, Portugal's Navigators looked in control before Bulgaria's Lions surged into the lead and threatened a real upset, only to misjudge their final layline by a whisker, which was all Portugal needed to steal back in front and dash the Rio hopes of both Bulgaria and Türkiye.

Over in Group F, Ukraine and Finland went head-to-head for the last ticket – tied on points, with Greece out of the picture – and Ukraine's United had the composure to come out on top. With their place in Rio secured, team captain Rodion Luka was in playful mood: “I will learn how to dance the Samba now! It was an easier race than I was expecting to be honest. I thought in the pre-start we had a problem, but then it was easy to control when we tacked. I'm very good under pressure, and when you have confidence in your team you can do whatever you want.”

Next stop is Rio in early November for the Pan American qualifiers, before the main event later that month: the SSL Gold Cup finals, billed as sailing's answer to the football World Cup, drawing 40 nations to Brazil from 18 November to 13 December. Full results here.

In Murcia, Spain 119 WASZP foilers from 16 countries spent the week trading places before a windless final day froze the standings and settled the titles. Italy ended up running the show: Antonio Gasperini took the 8.2 crown after a mid-week shake-up turned the leaderboard on its head, Giuseppe Chiantera held his nerve to win the fiercely fought 7.5 overall, and Elisa Bombana wrapped up the 6.9 title. France's Louise Metenier claimed the 7.5 women's honours. Full results here.

The next generation of ILCA stars battled it out in Thessaloniki last week. Greece's Hermione Ghicas topped the girls' fleet on home water, the current Youth World champion adding the European crown to her collection, while Czechia’s Jiri Tomes doubled up in the boys' fleet, taking both the European and Under-17 titles.

Most notable, though, was Erik Scheidt, winner of the boys' Open European Trophy. The 16-year-old Brazilian is following the wake of his dad Robert, five-time Olympic medallist, and having just taken gold in the Open ILCA 6 at Kiel Week a few weeks ago, we wouldn’t be surprised to see more Olympic medals in the family before long. Full results here: men and women.

We got our first look at the AC75 race schedule for next year, as Regatta Director Iain Murray laid out the full running order for the Louis Vuitton Cup and the 38th America's Cup Match in Naples. Most exciting is the six fleet races to open proceedings on 22–23 May, almost two months before the Match, marking the first time more than two AC75s will have raced together. That opener will give an early read on pace before the real business – the one-on-one match racing – gets going, building to the Match that starts on the weekend of 10–11 July, first team to seven. Check the full schedule here.

The 52 Super Series pitches up in Lanzarote for the first time this week, racing Tuesday to Saturday in the open water off Marina Rubicon. All eyes are on Sled: Takashi Okura's crew are the newly crowned TP52 world champions, unbeaten this season and 15 points clear at the top, and victory here would make it four regatta wins in a row – matching a Quantum Racing streak from a decade back.

The Canary trade winds should deliver the muscular, big-wave stuff Sled thrive in, but this is a deep fleet where a single dropped kite or fluffed gybe can cost a handful of places. Platoon Aviation, third at last month's worlds, along with strong-wind specialists Paprec – now with solo ace Yoann Richomme on navigation – and Terry Hutchinson's No Way Back all fancy their chances of knocking Sled off their perch. As Michele Ivaldi, navigator for No Way Back, puts it: “We don't think Sled are unbeatable. I honestly think ten boats can win an event. Every time we start a regatta it is back to zero, with no history.”

The Fireball Worlds get under way at Royal Torbay this week – the UK Nationals first, starting today, then the Worlds proper from Saturday. The Fireball is a proper old-school two-hander, and this 85-strong fleet contains a good chunk of the class's best. Reigning world champions Tom Gillard and Andy Thompson are the ones everyone else will be chasing after the Brits won the title in Geelong over two years ago. Behind them sits a proper spread of talent – grizzled veterans, up-and-coming youngsters and a handful of crews from Australia and the States who've come a long way for a crack at it.

The SailGP fleet arrives in Portsmouth this weekend for the eighth event of season six, and the whole Foil squad will be there too. Come and say hi at our first-ever live podcast (get your tickets here) as we bring you all the latest from the race track. Lewis Smith will host Andy Rice and Freddie Carr at Musto's Lighthouse store on Sunday morning at 9am. See you there!