Welcome to Issue 020
Big reveal
It’s been another busy week with lots of news from around the sailboat racing world – none bigger though, than the long-awaited roll out of the spectacular new Gitana 18 Ultim Maxi Edmund de Rothschild in Lorient, Brittany yesterday. Although we only got a glimpse of the hulls of this 32-metre ocean giant without rudders or foils in place, the rendering of the finished project is nonetheless mind-boggling – the rudders alone are works of art!
The new Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is the twenty-eighth boat in Gitana’s legendary maritime saga, which is about to celebrate its 150th anniversary in a matter of weeks and we have nothing but admiration for Ariane de Rothschild and the larger Gitana team for their ongoing commitment to pushing the boundaries of our sport.
“Within my family, we’ve always enjoyed a passion for competition, performance and also one of technological disruption,” de Rothschild said. “It’s about being disruptive, knowing how to take risks, gauging them and managing them. This is fully in line with our philosophy.”
The bold goal of the design team at Gitana and their collaboration with the legendary Guillaume Verdier is 100 per cent open ocean flight.
“With this new boat, we hope to achieve as close to perfect flight as possible,” confirmed the boat’s skipper, Charles Caudrelier. “Ideally, we’ll be able to fly very high without ever touching the waves. We hope to be able to fly in 3-metre waves and reach an average sailing speed bordering on 40 knots.”
Inside the British SailGP Grand Final victory
The Emirates GBR SailGP team rounded out Season 5 in spectacular style last weekend by winning the international circuit’s $2 million Grand Final in Abu Dhabi after a nip and tuck race against the Australian BONDS Flying Roos and New Zealand’s Black Foils. The British crew, led by Dylan Fletcher, also topped the standings in the Season 5 points and finished first in the event’s Impact League for their sustainability and social initiatives.
We caught up with Fletcher a few days after he returned from Abu Dhabi to get the inside track on how the race played out on board the British boat. You can read that story here.
Meanwhile Matt Sheahan at Planet Sail also interviewed Fletcher and you can watch that conversation here – as well as Matt’s full roundup of the Grand Final.
For a third insider perspective on the British performance here’s team strategist Hannah Mills’ take on how it went down.
Buddy movie
We stumbled upon this gem that we were mystifyingly not aware of during a doom scroll through YouTube. Released back in 2023, it’s a superbly produced documentary made by Anne Peterson and Mark Honer about legendary American sailboat racer Buddy Melges and his involvement in the America’s Cup – including his victory in the 1992 edition as helmsman aboard Bill Koch’s America³.
Italian and New Zealand America’s Cup teams issue progress reports
Both the America’s Cup Defender Emirates Team New Zealand and the Italian challenger Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli have each released short update videos rounding up their respective progress over the past month. Both teams have been making the most of their AC40s to get the sailors back in the groove for AC38. Meanwhile the Kiwis have also been working away on modifications to their AC37-winning AC75, while in Cagliari, Sardinia Peter Burling is spotted overseeing the Italian boat’s arrival at the team base.
A new American AC38 challenger breaks cover
With the dust only just settling on American Magic’s shock revelation that it would not be challenging for the 38th America’s Cup, it seems there may yet be a chance of a US team taking part in Naples in 2027. American match racing skipper Chris Poole – currently number one on the World Match Racing Tour international leaderboard – has announced that his Riptide Racing syndicate has partnered with the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club on Long Island to try to mount a challenge using an AC75 purchased from an existing America’s Cup team. That AC75 is presumed to be American Magic’s AC37 yacht Patriot in order to comply with the built-in-country Cup regulations, although this is yet to be confirmed. With a target of raising $50 million in time for a challenge ahead of the January 2025 late entry deadline, Poole & Co. have a big mountain to climb to get this challenge over the line in time. More information here...
Four line honours favourites for the 2026 RORC Transatlantic Race
A remarkable quartet of offshore boats can be counted among the favourites for the overall win under IRC for the RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy. Yves Grosjean’s Neo 430 NeoJivaro, James Neville’s Carkeek 45 Ino Noir, Xavier & Alexandre Bellouard’s Lift 45 Maxitude, and Antoine Magre’s Manuard 50 Palanad 4. Between them they bring technical experimentation, design breakthroughs, and the hunger to win an endurance race where average speed, reliability and mental composure will define the outcome. Read on...
Podcast: SailGP Season 5 Grand Final in Abu Dhabi: A Deep Dive
In the latest episode of the Yacht Racing Life podcast, hosts Justin Chisholm and Magnus Wheatley discuss the final SailGP event of the season held in Abu Dhabi. Listen now…
Thrill of a lifetime
Nineteen-year-old Waszp sailor Rachael Betschart from Bermuda got the chance to steer the Team Emirates GBR SailGP F50 as part of her prize for finishing as the top female at the Waszp Series final in Chicago. She claimed her reward by travelling to Cádiz, Spain, where she spent a week embedded in the culture of the British team.
“I got to sail on the boat for just 15 minutes but it felt like a lifetime,” she told the Bermuda Gazette. “It really felt like I was flying rather than sailing, which is just the coolest feeling ever. I remember getting up off the foils and I was trying to process that I was on the boat and going at incredible speeds. “It felt surreal and was hard to comprehend in the moment but then you forget about it for a second and it’s just go go go.” Read the full story…
Artemis Racing poaches Brad Farrand from Red Bull Italy
Farrand has deep family roots in Sweden and previously sailed under the Artemis banner on the RC44 circuit. He joins driver Nathan Outteridge, strategist Julia Gross, and grinder Julius Hallström in the Artemis SailGP line-up, alongside reserve sailors Hugo Christensson and Felicia Fernström. More here…
Argo Challenge announces major new recruits
The Argo Challenge – which is aiming for participation in the Youth and Women's America's Cup with international crews of disabled sailors at AC38 in Naples in 2027 – has announced the involvement of two top names: Helena Lucas (GBR) and Damien Seguin (FRA). Read more…
America's Cup collaborates with World Sailing on Para Inclusive Sailing initiative
World Sailing has announced a new collaboration with the America’s Cup aimed at strengthening the global development of Para Inclusive Sailing and accelerating key initiatives ahead the 2025 World Sailing Inclusion Championships currently taking place in the Sultanate of Oman. Find out more…
IMOCA signs engine deal with YANMAR
YANMAR has announced a long-term strategic partnership with the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA). Beginning in 2025, the company will become the official technical partner of the IMOCA Class. Read on…
Will the America’s Cup Survive?
Andy Rice – writing in his regular Yachts & Yachting / Sailing Today column – believes the AC will always survive, but questions whether the budget sapping AC75s have had their day and if it is time for a cheaper America’s Cup Class yacht going forwards.
“Commercial viability is now a distant prospect, a pipe dream,” Rice writes. “I hope Naples 2027 goes ahead on schedule and that it will be the last hurrah for the spectacularly space-age AC75. After that can we please go back to something more affordable, with wind (not batteries) as the only power source, with a large crew of sailors (yes, sailors, not athletes), and with sails that go up and down the mast so that we can tell whether the boats are going upwind or downwind? The whole foiling thing, and the commercial thing, is being executed much, much better by SailGP.” Read the full story…
Sailing Grand Slam 2026 Olympic Classes series Notice of Race published
The organisers of the Sailing Grand Slam have released the 2026 Notice of Race for its full series of Olympic class events, marking the first complete edition of the international circuit after a successful pilot season in 2025. Find out more…
44Cup 2026 programme to feature new events in Spain and Italy
After the successful conclusion of their 2025 championship in Marina Jandía in Fuerteventura, the RC44 fleet is now looking forward to next year's 44Cup season. Read the full story…
Pip Hare brings yacht home to Poole after year-long recovery effort
Just twelve months after her Vendée Globe dream was shattered in the remote wilds between Australia and Antarctica, Pip Hare will finally sail back into her home port of Poole in the UK this weekend. The internationally acclaimed British skipper, who famously jury-rigged a makeshift mast and navigated 800 miles to safety, returns not only with her boat restored but with her determination firmly intact. Read on...
Three 100-footers do battle in Sydney Harbour at the start of the Cabbage Tree Island race
Watch Law Connect, Master Lock Comanche, and SHK Scallywag do battle at the front of a 71 boat fleet taking on the 172 nautical mile trip from Sydney Harbour towards Port Stephens and back to Sydney – the fifth race in the 2025/2026 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore.
The Famous Project crew press on south
Five days into their Jules Verne Trophy around-the-world record attempt the all-women crew aboard Alexia Barrier's IDEC Sport maxi multihull are approaching the Doldrums and an equator crossing this weekend. Get the latest update...
Quiz Question...
This week's question:
Can you solve this anagram to reveal the name of this well-known French Ocean racer?
'U Pail Hamlet'
Answer in the next newsletter...
Last week's answer:
The 'Fled NYC Lather' anagram resolves to SailGP man of the moment: Dylan Fletcher.
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