The week in racing - 6 July ‘26

Lots to chew over this week: a record fleet let loose on the Aegean, an America's Cup team finally reaches Naples, and world titles being handed out everywhere from Lake Garda to the Baltic. Let’s get into it.

Foiling Week's 13th edition brought around 300 sailors and eight classes to Lake Garda for nine days, spanning everything from wingfoils and e-foilers on to the biggest boats of the lot, the ETF26 catamaranss. The tightest racing came in those ETF26s, where France's Entreprises du Morbihan made it four Foiling Week titles in a row – but only just, holding off fellow French crews Team Pro and Blueshift by two points after twelve races.

In the Moth – still the class much of the foiling world measures itself against – Croatian Olympic gold medallist Šime Fantela came out on top overall, while Malta's Victoria Schultheis led the women home. There were class wins too for Britain's Finley Dickinson in the Switch fleet and France's Matteo Chaboud in the WASZP, plus a record-sized Downwind Race.

The Foil’s Andy Rice was there for the first time – trying a Switch foiler, surviving an ETF26, and standing in for four races on an 18-foot skiff. More from him later this week. Full results here.

Over in Marstrand, Chris Poole and his Riptide Racing crew have got their hands back on the GKSS Match Cup Sweden trophy, two years after they first won it. It wasn't a straightforward week. They started slowly, then found their groove in the knockouts, seeing off defending champion Jeppe Borch in the quarters and France's Ange Delerce in the semis before beating home favourite Oscar Engström 3-1 in the final. Winning on the Fourth of July gave the Americans an extra reason to enjoy it, as Poole said after: “It didn't start as well as we expected but we fought our way through … Oscar put on a tough match for us in the finals but we are delighted to win again here, and on 4 July – I'm proud to fly the Stars and Stripes.” Delerce was arguably the story of the regatta, though: a Marstrand first-timer who knocked out seven-time winner Björn Hansen and served notice as one of the Tour's coming men.

In the Nordea Women's Trophy, Pauline Courtois and her long-standing Match in Pink crew – including Maëlenn Lemaitre, just announced as the final sailor for the French AC challenge – won a back-to-back title, beating Sweden's Martina Carlsson 3-1. “We knew we were sailing against a popular local team … but we were also fast today and it is great to get the win again,” said Courtois. Full results here.

There's a first-mover advantage in the America's Cup, and Luna Rossa are making the most of it. The Italians have become the first team to sail in Naples this cycle, rolling out two AC40s in the Gulf ahead of September's preliminary regatta, and a full year before the Cup match itself takes place. Every hour banked now is valuable data on Naples' quirks: a lighter sea breeze than they're used to over in Cagliari, and the wash from a busy commercial port to factor in. Meanwhile in Lorient, La Roche-Posay have been getting their first sailing days in aboard their own AC75.

Up on Ullswater, the 64th Lord Birkett Memorial Trophy pulled a record sell-out fleet of 230 boats down the length of the lake. Matty and James Lyons were first over the line on both days in their 49er and, once the handicap sums were done, took the overall title for a third time – ahead of Jono Shelley and Graham Priestley's International 14, with Louise McKeand and Nigel Hall third in a Wayfarer. Full results here.

In Kiel, the 29er Worlds are into the thick of qualifying, and Argentina's Felix Llauro and Lucas Cozar are setting the pace – three bullets on day one and barely a foot wrong since. Day two served up the full Baltic experience, 25 knots gusting into the mid-thirties, and only one race got away before the committee sensibly called everyone ashore. It's tight behind, with Sweden and Great Britain swapping places near the top. Check results here.

Eckernförde hosts the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 Europeans from tomorrow, and it's a whopper – 194 boats and 388 sailors, well up on last year's edition in Thessaloniki. The form guide comes straight from Kiel Week a fortnight ago: Switzerland's Joshua Richner and Nilo Schärer topped the 49ers, Canada's Georgia and Antonia Lewin-Lafrance the 49erFX, and Britain's John Gimson and Anna Burnet the Nacra 17. The latter two duos are also defending European champions, so they arrive as the teams to beat. Keep an eye on the reigning 49er world champions too, New Zealand's Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush. Track the results here.

In Greece, the Aegean 600 got away on Sunday from below the Ancient Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion – a 605-mile lap of the Aegean with 71 teams from 21 nations, boats from 30 to 90 feet and crews ranging from two to well over a dozen. A brisk 25-30 knot meltemi set the tone from the off, boats trimmed down for the breeze. Up front the two quickest monohulls, Claudio Demartis's Reichel/Pugh 90 Prosecco Doc Shockwave 3 and George Procopiou's Volvo 70 Aiolos, traded gybes down to Milos before Shockwave nudged four miles clear. Now the fleet threads the Cyclades towards Santorini's caldera, with Rhodes – as usual – the hinge where leaders can quickly become followers. Track the fleet here.

The 505 world title is decided at Hayling Island this week, with racing running through to Saturday. It's one of the great two-handed classes – a quick, physically demanding trapeze dinghy with a big following in the US, Australia, Germany and the UK, and the fleet gathered on the south coast reflects that global spread. The pre-Worlds Nationals gave an early read on form, with American duo Howie Hamlin and Andy Zinn, two-time world champions, setting the pace, though several genuine contenders held back or spent the weekend tuning. Expect them near the front when it matters. Track the results here.

And to round things off, Saturday brings the Round the Island Race, the 50-mile lap of the Isle of Wight where America's Cup names and Olympic medallists line up alongside families and first-timers on the same start line. More than 600 boats are already entered. It's been going since 1931, the overall winner still takes home the Gold Roman Bowl, and the sight of the fleet stacked up rounding the Needles is one of the great spectacles in British sailing. Whether you're racing or watching from the cliffs, it's a proper day out.