This year’s yacht racing season got off to a strong start in January with a storming opening event to SailGP Season 6 in Perth, Australia that delivered two great days of on-the-water action – followed up by the culmination of two Jules Verne Trophy Ultim campaigns, where we saw Thomas Coville’s Sodebo and Alex Barrier’s The Famous Project CIC crews both survive cataclysmic conditions in a North Atlantic storm as they completed their nonstop laps of the planet.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2026, there’s so much more to come for sail racing fans to enjoy…
(Much) more SailGP
SailGP has become the gift that just keeps on giving, with Season 6 featuring 13 teams and close to a regatta per month over the rest of this year.
Following on from the success of Perth in January, the circus moves on in February to Auckland, New Zealand – where home fans will have their fingers and toes crossed that Peter Burling’s Black Foils F50 will be repaired and back in action after the Kiwi’s run-in with the Swiss.
From there the 13-boat fleet heads back to Australia for event three at the ever-popular fan-favourite venue of Sydney over the weekend of February 28 / March 1.
Then, in April, the teams head across the Pacific and several time zones to Brazil, where the delayed debut event in Rio de Janeiro could set new records for crowds ashore and on the water. Mubadala Brazil skipper Martine Grael and many of her sailing overachiever family are household names in the country so the atmosphere should be nothing short of electric.
After that, it’s Bermuda and then New York during May, and Halifax in Canada in June, before a transatlantic hop to Portsmouth in the UK at the end of July, Sassnitz, Germany in August, followed in September by the debut of Valencia, Spain and a return to Geneva, Switzerland.
SailGP will round the year out in the United Arab Emirates with two back-to-back events during November: the first in Dubai over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd, followed by the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi on the 28th and 29th.
The return of the America’s Cup
The America’s Cup is finally coming out of hibernation. To be fair, that’s not actually accurate from the point of view of the five competing teams who have been working flat out since the end of AC37 in Barcelona in 2024.
But from a fan point of view there has been a prolonged dearth of meaningful information and we have only recently been given something to get excited about, with the announcement of the dates of the 38th America’s Cup Match in Naples in 2027 and the confirmation that the first Preliminary Regatta of the AC38 cycle will be raced in AC40s in Cagliari, Italy from May 21 – 24. A second Preliminary Regatta taking place in Naples a month later has also been rumoured – but this is yet to be confirmed.
While only five teams racing just two four-day regattas in the whole of 2026 might seem like chicken feed in comparison with the 13 x 13 proposition on offer over at SailGP, it is worth noting here that the America’s Cup and SailGP are two fundamentally extremely different competitions.
In SailGP teams use boats and equipment provided and maintained by the event organisation and those boats are strictly one-design, with absolutely no leeway for individual development or customisation.
Winning in SailGP is about honing your boathandling and fleet racing skills over the season to try to make it into the three-boat, winner-takes-all Grand Final at the end of the year.
The America’s Cup, meanwhile, is very much a design and technology development-led competition, where incremental performance gains are achieved in secret through thousands of hours of computer modelling and on-the-water validation.
In SailGP the Holy Grail is achieving the consistency required to get you to the upper echelon of the leaderboard at the end of the season. In the America’s Cup, the only thing that matters is having the fastest boat by the time the final Match comes around.
Happily for America’s Cup fans the 38th edition will see the return of the Shared Reconnaissance Programme. First introduced for AC37, as well as providing the teams with vital intel on their rivals, the Reconnaissance Programme will once again provide us fans with an invaluable spyglass view of the day-to-day on-the-water activities of the competing teams on the road to AC38.
Two remarkable new ocean racing monsters
2026 looks set to see a new dawn in the world of spectacular high-performance ocean-racing vessels – beginning with the February 14 scheduled launch of the amazing new Gitana/Verdier-designed Maxi Edmond de Rothschild Ultim in Lorient, to be followed towards the end of the year by the reveal of Giovanni Soldini’s remarkable Ferrari Hypersail foiling monohull project – with both boats looking set to establish new performance benchmarks in terms of high-speed open-ocean passage racing.
Ultims
The monster-sized ocean-going Ultim multihulls are arguably the most impressive boats in the world currently and the class schedule includes three events this year: the 2,000-mile Odysée Ultim race around the Mediterranean this May, which starts and finishes in Antibes, France and includes a turning mark off the coast of Olympia, Greece; the 24 Ultim from Lorient, France in September, and the solo Route du Rhum–Destination Guadeloupe – a 3,500 marathon from Saint-Malo, France to Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe starting on November 1.
The IMOCA Globe Series
There is no denying the success and appeal of the IMOCA class over the last 10 years and 2026 will see the IMOCA Globe Series feature six ocean races involving some of the top names in the sport.
The series kicks off in May with the solo 1000 Race – a thousand-mile sprint return trip from Port-la-Forêt in Brittany to the Fastnet Rock and back. Next up in June is the singlehanded Vendée Arctique which will take the fleet from France’s Les Sables d'Olonne up to the Arctic Circle and back.
September sees the inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Atlantic – a transatlantic passage from New York to Barcelona, Spain for four-person, mixed-gender crews.
September also includes the singlehanded Défi Azimut-Lorient Agglomération event – a combination of inshore speed trials and an overnight offshore race in and around Lorient. The series concludes with the solo Route du Rhum–Destination Guadeloupe.
Solitaire du Figaro
Also known as the proving ground for any aspiring Vendée Globe skipper, in 2026 the French solo classic that is the Solitaire du Figaro will take place from the end of May to the beginning of June. While full details are yet to be announced Brittany's Perros-Guirec will host the start of the first leg to Vigo, Spain – with the town of Pornichet hosting the race's conclusion for the first time in 34 years.
Although the full entry list has not been published it is believed to include 2024 winner Tom Dolan from Ireland, 2025 victor Alexis Loison, as well as IMOCA skippers Yoann Richomme (Paprec) and Nicolas Lunven (PRB) – both multiple past-Solitaire winners.
The return of the Sardinia Cup
In the wake of the huge success of last year’s revival by the Royal Ocean Racing Club of the Admiral’s Cup after an absence of 20 years, 2026 sees the welcome return of Italy’s equivalent event – the Sardinia Cup.
The format will be similar to the Admiral’s Cup, with the event open to two-boat teams representing an accredited yacht club competing in a series including inshore and offshore racing. By all accounts there has been strong interest in the revived event which last took place in 2012 and hopes are high for a bumper entry.
Newport Bermuda Race
Well established as one of the world’s classic offshore races, the 2026 edition of the Newport Bermuda Race will leave from Newport, RI. on June 19 with an entry list of 150 yachts already confirmed for the 636-mile jaunt out into the North Atlantic.
Inshore racing circuits
They may be primarily the domain of wealthy owner-drivers but the international teams in longstanding circuits like the 52 Super Series and the 44Cup are crewed by some of sailing’s top-name professionals. The boats might be conventional non-foilers but the racing action is nevertheless white hot and both circuits visit some of the coolest regatta venues on the planet.
The 44Cup kicks off in Puerto Calero on Lanzarote in February, before moving on to Punaldia on Sardinia at the end of April, Sweden’s Marstrand in June, before the RC44 World Championship in Cowes this September, and the season closer in Cartagena, Spain in November.
Meanwhile, the 52 Super Series gets under way in Puerto Portals, Mallorca in May, before moving on to Porto Cervo, Sardinia for the TP52 World Championship in June, then two Lanzarote events – Marina Rubicon in July and Marina Calero in August, with the season finishing in Valencia in October.
Also worth keeping an eye on are two foiling catamaran circuits: the EFT26 Series – which last year featured two crews from the French K-Challenge America’s Cup / SailGP syndicate – and the Swiss TF35 Tour which takes place on Switzerland's inland lakes. Also worth following is the 69F Class whose 2026 programme features four events at venues around Italy’s Lake Garda.
Rolex Swan Cup
The biennial Rolex Swan Cup 2026 edition will take place in September in Porto Cervo, Sardinia with racing for the ClubSwan 28, 36, 42, 43 45, and 50 classes – as well as the Swan Maxi, Legacy, Cruiser Racer, and Pure Cruising divisions.
One design keelboat classes
One of the real joys of our sport is the opportunity for keen amateur sailors to compete on a level playing field with professional sailors at European and world championship events in the numerous highly competitive one design classes.
2026 sees the evergreen Melges 24 Class hold its European Championship in Tønsberg, Norway this September and its world championship in Harbor Springs, Michigan.
The J/80 World Championship will be held in Kingston, Ontario in July.
The J/70 European Championship is set for July in Barcelona, Spain, with the worlds taking place in September in Cascais, Portugal.
The Etchells worlds will be held in May in San Diego, CA. with the class' Europeans being held in July as part of Ireland’s Cork Week.
Meanwhile, the SB20 World Championship will be held in Hyères, France this October, with the perennial J/24 Class holding its worlds in Melbourne, Australia in November.
The International Dragon Class is staging the Dragon Gold Cup regatta in Puerto Portals, Mallorca in March, with the world championship taking place in Helsinki, Finland at the end of June/beginning of July.
The Star Class World Championship will take place in early November at the Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami, with the Europeans taking place in Medemblik in the Netherlands at the end of August.
In 2026 the Cape 31 Class Mediterranean Series will feature events in Porto Cervo (April), Puntaldia (May), Bonifacio (June), Scarlino (July), and Hyères (September). The class’ final World Cup event will take place in October with the venue yet to be announced.
Regatta Weeks
Although the week-long regatta format has fallen from favour over the last decade or so, there are still some well-attended events on the 2026 regatta calendar.
None more so than the Italian classic Barcolana regatta – the 58th edition of which takes place this October in Trieste and is reputed to be the largest sailing race in the world.
The UK’s Cowes Week is widely regarded as the world’s best known regatta, and although the numbers may be down from its heyday of over 1,000 boats in 2005, the event still attracts upwards of 800 entries – a figure which may see a bump given the 2026 edition marks the regatta’s 200-year anniversary.
Another classic – Ireland’s Cork Week – also returns this year with its special blend of fierce competition and intense shoreside revelry.
Those seeking guaranteed sunshine might look no further than the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta which takes place this year in early March, the St. Thomas International Regatta at the beginning of April, or later that month the new four-day Antigua Race Week.
Dinghy World and European championships
Foiling or otherwise, several of the world’s major dinghy classes are going strong and 2026 will see European and world title events in many of them.
After a remarkable 212-boat entry for the 2025 OK World Championship on Lake Garda the singlehanded class heads to Skovshoved in Denmark this June for the 2026 edition, while the Europeans will be held in Bruinisse in the Netherlands in September.
The Finn Masters attracted a 300+ entry in 2025 in Medemblik in the Netherlands and are expecting over 100 boats at the 2026 edition to be held in Brisbane, Australia in February – a week after the Finn Gold Cup takes place at the same venue.
In the two-person classes, the International Flying 15 European Championship will be held in Palma, Mallorca in October, the 505 World Championship will take place at Hayling Island in the UK in July, while the International Fireball worlds will be held in the UK in Torquay, also in July.
The foiling brigade in the International Moth Class will make a trip to Perth, Australia for the 2026 World Championship this November, while the Europeans are scheduled for L’Escala, Spain in June.
Meanwhile, the WASZP Games 2026 will take place in Pensacola, Florida in March.
Team Racing
The New York Yacht Club’s Hinman Masters Team Race event will take place in Newport, RI in Sonars raced by two-boat teams with three to five crew.
The Wilson Trophy team racing classic will take place in West Kirby in England in May.
Match Racing
While the 2026 schedule for the World Match Racing Tour is yet to be announced, we do know that the season finale of the Men’s and Women’s tours will be hosted at Saudi Arabia’s AMAALA Yacht Club in December.
NYYC Women's International Championship
The five-day inaugural edition of the New York Yacht Club Women’s International Championship will take place in September in Newport, RI using the club's fleet of 20 IC37 keelboats.
Olympic Classes
The Sailing Grand Slam Olympic Classes series will feature the following events in 2026:
- Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels at the end of March / beginning of April
- Semaine Olympique Française – Hyères in April
- Dutch Water Week at Almere on the Ijmeer in June
- Kiel Week in Germany at the end of June
- Long Beach & San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta in Los Angeles, CA
The 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 classes will hold their World Championships in Quiberon, France in May, with the European Championship taking place in Eckernförde, Germany in July.
The ILCA 7 (Laser) Men's World Championship will take place in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland from August 23–30 with the ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) Women's World Championship following on at the same venue from September 5–12.
The 470 Class (mixed sex) World Championship will be held in Enoshima, Japan in August, with the European Championship taking place in Vilamoura, Portugal in March.
The 2026 iQFOiL World Championship will take place at the British Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy in September.
The 2026 Formula Kite World Championship will be held in Viana do Castelo, Portugal in May.
