America's Cup Opinion / Analysis
From partners to opponents: inside the North Sails–Team New Zealand patent battle
North Sails last week went public in its patent fight with Emirates Team New Zealand. It accused the Cup Defender of building a patent on the sailmaker’s own technology, then turning it on the rest of the fleet. In a statement...
Batteries, foils and LiDAR: where does the sailor’s job end?
Is technology ruining sailing? That was the question on episode 42 of The Foil Podcast, and the answer turns out to depend on which job the machine is doing – supplying the power, telling the crew what’s going on, or making the...
Freddie Carr: Naples is not a neutral racecourse
The AC40 Preliminary Regatta will provide the first meaningful evidence of which teams understand the venue that will decide the 38th America’s Cup. I first went to Naples with Luna Rossa for the America’s Cup World Series events...
Ratcliffe isn't backing down – what the latest INEOS vs Athena court filing tells us
In January 2025, barely three months after INEOS Britannia became the first British boat in 60 years to reach the America's Cup Match, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Ben Ainslie parted company. Ainslie's team, Athena Racing, kept the...
Freddie Carr: The America’s Cup’s founding document is now central to the fight over its future
For a document written in the 19th century, the America’s Cup Deed of Gift has done a remarkable job of governing one of the most technologically advanced sporting competitions on the planet. It has survived displacement...
Freddie Carr: Why Paul Cayard is a contender for sailing’s GOAT
Watching Paul Cayard win the 2026 Etchells World Championship alongside team-mates James Mayo and Ben Lamb was one of those genuinely special moments in sailing – the sort that makes even the most hardened observers pause. And...
Freddie Carr: Reliving the greatest America’s Cup race
Having just stepped off an extraordinary three days aboard Rainbow, it felt like being transported back to a different era of the sport – one where sailing was defined by feel, physicality and pure mechanics. The kind of sailing...
Ineos vs Athena: What happens when you make Ben Ainslie angry
“They’ve made a big mistake. They’ve made me angry; you don’t want to make me angry.” The words of Ben Ainslie after a controversial race 8 of the Olympic Regatta at London 2012. The Danish and Dutch competitors in the Finn...
Freddie Carr: The spectacle I can’t wait for in AC38
OK, I’m calling it right now. What will be the sickest thing in the next America’s Cup? Seeing the youth and women coming through the AC40s and racing alongside senior team-mates in the preliminary regattas will be brilliant. New...
