Welcome to Racing Roundup #019
Let's begin with a summary of the most quotable comments from American Magic's director of sailing operations Terry Hutchinson during his appearance on Tom Ehman's Sailing Illustrated show this week.
On the thinking leading up to American Magic's decision not to challenge for the 38th America's Cup:
"Doug [DeVos] was carrying a lot of the load of the team if it was to go forward in AC38 and he needed to be in a spot where he felt comfortable he could bring investors along with him. It’s a risky proposition. The America’s Cup is not for the faint of heart. If what is being proposed – and if we are lucky – develops over AC38 and AC39, I suspect there is an opportunity for American Magic to come back."
"The hard part is that we have got a lot invested in this. There is time, there is talent, and there is treasure invested in this regatta for American Magic. So the decision that we collectively took was not something we took lightly."
On the ACP and the future direction for the America's Cup:
"We all [the teams] see it somewhat the same way. I’m not sure it’s complete alignment, but I think everybody sees that there’s a path forward – it’s just how we get there is difficult."
"The cost is so prohibitive that until there are meaningful ways to control it you are probably going to end up with two or three teams."
On the percentage chances of the French and Swiss teams taking part in AC38:
"French: 30/70 Swiss 50:50"
On what the American team are going to be working on at the headquarters in Pensacola, Florida:
"What we are finding is that there is a lot of demand for America’s Cup quality manufacturing in the aerospace world."
On whether American Magic will be involved in SailGP:
"I’m cautiously optimistic, but let’s see. I think it’s a logical place, but again it’s another investment that needs to be well thought through and needs to fit the investment structure that Doug has in place to be something that’s meaningful. If you executed one of these teams well and you were able to build a consortium of sponsors that you could cross from SailGP to the America’s Cup, then you are really starting to build on something that can benefit American sailing in a really powerful way."
Harry Melges finally gets his SailGP call-up
The U.S. SailGP Team has added World Champion American sailor Harry Melges IV to its roster ahead of this weekend’s Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix Grand Final, further strengthening its crew as it builds toward the future.
Melges, from Lake Geneva, WI, joined the team in Abu Dhabi this week and will begin logging training hours required to receive an F50 license. More...
How SailGP was created from scratch and ‘cracked the code’
Andy Rice's latest SailGP piece in The Athletic explores how sailing's first international sailing league has managed to thrive in the five years since its inception. Read it here.
UK SailGP fans can sign up to watch this weekend's racing from Abu Dhabi online for free courtesy of the Emirates GBR SailGP Team.
ROCKWOOL re-ups with SailGP
ROCKWOOL has renewed its multi-year commitment to SailGP, extending its title partnership of the Danish-flagged ROCKWOOL Racing SailGP Team through to the end of 2032. The world leader in stone wool products has been title partner and operator of the Denmark SailGP Team since 2019, and this renewal marks a significant new chapter in what is now the global racing championship’s longest-running team partnership. Read more...
Alexia Barrier's eight–women 'The Famous Project CIC' challenge for the Jules Verne Trophy set to depart on Saturday
A weather window is opening up over the near Atlantic this weekend, and the maxi trimaran IDEC SPORT will leave the pontoon in Brest (Quai du Commandant Malbert) on Saturday morning between 1100 and noon to reach the official starting line for all great sailing records, between the Créac'h lighthouse on the island of Ouessant (France) and Lizard Point lighthouse (UK). More here...
Sam Goodchild claims second IMOCA Globe Series Championship title
After a long season at the top of the IMOCA fleet that featured three race wins, Great Britain’s Sam Goodchild is for the second time in three years the IMOCA Globe Series Champion.
The 36-year-old skipper of MACIF Santé Prévoyance, who hails from Falmouth in Cornwall, started by winning the season-opening fully-crewed Course des Caps. He followed that by sailing as navigator on all but one of the five legs of The Ocean Race Europe on board Paul Meilhat’s winning boat Biotherm.
Then, alongside French sailor Loïs Berrehar, Sam Goodchild won the Défi Azimut-Lorient Agglomération 48 Hours, before concluding a busy year with third place in the Transat Café L’OR - Le Havre Normandie, again with Berrehar. Read on...
Given the global popularity of shorthanded offshore racing in both amateur and professional circuits, it's amazing to think that there is no offshore world championship event. And yet this type of racing is something that nearly made it through to the Olympics.
The recent Offshore Double Handed Worlds run out of Cowes and organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club suggests that this could be a successful format for the future.
But the event also provided guidelines for a new way of holding keelboat racing in the future. Given the widespread concerns about the ever spiralling costs of 'big boat' racing and how future generations will be able to afford it, the Offshore Double Handed Worlds provided some interesting ideas.
For PlanetSail Matt Sheahan reports on who came out on top and talks to shorthanded expert and self-confessed addict Nigel Colley about what this might mean for the future.
Can the America's Cup and SailGP comfortably coexist?
Peter Burling's first recorded comments over his much publicised split with Emirates Team New Zealand have caused a flurry of media interest down in New Zealand and beyond. Burling's soundbites featured in the latest edition of SailGP's Racing on the Edge docuseries and spawned a string of follow-up stories – including this one from Joseph Pearson at Stuff which questions whether "The rift between Burling and Team New Zealand has exposed an awkward co-existence sailing hasn’t navigated yet".
Celebrity power play
It's great to see the Australian BONDS Flying Roos starting to flex their celebrity influencer muscles ahead of this weekend's SailGP Season 5 finale in Abu Dhabi with this quirky new video featuring backers Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds and a walk-on part for skipper Tom Slingsby.
Get ready for the SailGP $2M Season 6 showdown in Abu Dhabi
Sailors from SailGP's 12 international teams are converging on Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates this week ahead of this weekend's final event of the international circuit’s fifth season, where the Grand Final winners will collect a cheque for $2 million. More...
There was plenty to ponder over at the SailGP skippers' press conference – including:
Phil Robertson's thoughts on coming in to replace Ruggero Tita at the wheel of Red Bull Italy: "This is the first team that actually has two drivers on their roster and that is a strength. For me sitting here personally, I know Ruggi is there ready to go at any moment. So I have got a rocket somewhere I can’t say. I have to go out there and perform. It’s nice to be there, there’s pressure, I’m excited. The fact that there is someone like Ruggi – one of the best sailors in the world – there in the background ready to go is a strength for this team."
USA SailGP Team skipper Taylor Canfield on Season 5 coming to a close and the arrival of Harry Melges: "It has been a bumpy season and I could say I’m ready for it to be over and make a fresh start next season, but I’m also excited for this race here in Abu Dhabi. We are super excited to include Harry Melges on the roster. He’s a great, incredible sailor – also American – and we are really proud of that: developing the next generation of American talent and you know he’s the top guy. I’m no spring chicken so someone’s going to be stepping into my role at some point – and it might be him."
Peter Burling's terse response to a question asking if there was any chance he would miss the weekend's racing after sustaining a nasty finger injury during training in Abu Dhabi. "It depends who you talk to. I'm sure I will find a way to be there." [Kiwi SailGP fans will no doubt be pleased to know he has been given the all clear to race in today's practice races.]
Tom Slingsby, firstly on the social media power of the BONDS Flying Roos team co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman: "We did a post two days ago and it goes out to 150 million people." ... and then issuing an ominous warning to other teams as the post-season transfer period looms:
“Historically we’ve been fed on in the off-season. People come to try and steal a lot of our team members away. Now we’ve got more partnerships, we’ve got new ownership. No longer are we sort of fed off, but it feels like we can play the game. We’ve got money we can (use) to go and try to poach people as well."
“It’s a better position to be in than how we’ve been the last four years, that’s for sure.”
Watch the entire press conference here.
AC38: Still more questions than answers
The information blackout currently engulfing the America’s Cup continues to frustrate sailing fans around the world. AC enthusiasts are understandably hungry for new information about the upcoming 38th edition, but despite a surfeit of questions answers are few and far between. More...
Calling time?
In the AC38: Still more questions than answers story above one of the many unanswered questions centred on whether Ben Ainslie would race aboard the British Athena Racing challenge AC75 for the 38th America's Cup. Based on his answers in this Rick Broadbent story in The Times it seems that, while he hasn't ruled it out, being on the boat is not one of his goals.
"I kind of see my contribution to the team being more off the water than on it," Ainslie says, but then adds: "But if – for whatever reason – I have to get my boots on, I'll do it."
Stamp of approval
The Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy have paid tribute to Luna Rossa's victories in the 2024 Barcelona Youth America’s Cup and Women’s America’s Cup with the issuance of two über-cool commemorative stamps.
Is the Olympic Sailing medal becoming just a participation trophy?
In Matt Sheahan's story on the Yachting World website from earlier this month he asks:
What should an Olympic medal represent? Is it still sport’s ultimate accolade? Is it a demonstration that you’re the best in the world and have dedicated your entire life to proving it? Or is it more of a Blue Peter badge, a confirmation that you took part in a piece of sporting media entertainment that you should be proud of? Read on...
Line-up announced for 2025 World Match Racing Tour Final
The World Match Racing Tour has announced the 16 confirmed skippers to compete in the 2025 World Match Racing Tour Final Shenzhen Bao’an in China scheduled to take place from 6-11 January 2026.
The winner of the WMRT Shenzhen finale will be crowned the World Sailing Match Racing World Champion and receive a share of the USD200,000 prize purse. Great Britain’s Ian Williams, eight-time world champion and current defender of the world title returns to Shenzhen in a bid to add a record ninth world title to his career. Full story here...
Worth waiting for
After five years in the M32 class, Ryan McKillen’s Surge – skippered by Taylor Canfield – closed out their first World Championship title with a race to spare after a week of consistent results in Miami, Florida.
Stay motivated this winter
You’ve got six months until your next regatta. The weather’s getting colder, the days shorter, and you’d much rather stay in bed than put on a damp wetsuit. Training in the off-season can often feel like a pointless exercise, and it’s hard to motivate yourself without a clear plan or immediate upcoming regatta to prepare for. Dan Self from The Layline offers up seven tips about how you can stay motivated during the off-season and prepare yourself for your best racing season yet. Check them out here.
Quiz Question...
This week's question:
Can you solve this anagram to reveal the name of a well-known Olympic, SailGP, and America's Cup sailor?
'Fled NYC Lather'
Answer in the next newsletter...
Last week's answer:
The yacht Jolie Brise won the first-ever Fastnet Race in 1925.
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