There's exactly one month to go until the official start of the 38th Louis Vuitton America's Cup sailing season, which will begin with the first preliminary regatta in Sardinia, off the coast of Cagliari, from May 21st to 24th, ahead of the final phase in Naples in the summer of 2027.
Five teams have registered, but only three—Emirates Team New Zealand, GB1, and Luna Rossa—are participating with two AC40 one-design foiling boats, one of which is dedicated to crews of women and young sailors. La Roche-Posay Racing Team and Tudor Team Alinghi will field only one AC40. The official training day will be Thursday, May 21, when the race officials, led by Race Director Iain Murray, will have the opportunity to refine their procedures before racing begins.
The schedule – Three fleet races are scheduled for Friday the 22nd, starting at 3 p.m. The same schedule will be followed on Saturday the 23rd. Two fleet races are scheduled for Sunday, May 24th; at the end of the series of races, the top two boats will enter a match race (one against one) to decide the winner. The defending champions, New Zealand, have recently spent considerable time at sea sailing their AC75 "Taihoro," with Nathan Outteridge and newcomer Seb Menzies at the helm. Players Jake Pye and Jo Aleh could co-drive the women's and youth teams. GB1 is banking on Dylan Fletcher and Ben Cornish for the senior team. But the British team also boasts Olympic gold medalist Ellie Aldridge and women's world champion Hattie Rogers, along with a host of new talent such as Finn Dickinson, Finn Morris, and Sam Webb.
Luna Rossa is the team that has done the most AC40 training ahead of May, being based in Cagliari, and, as the sessions went by, the helms alternated and the “rivalry” has always been heated between the three-time America's Cup winner Peter Burling and the double Olympic gold medalist Ruggero Tita .
Among the young Italian team members, Marco Gradoni, 22, stands out. He will most likely be joined by Women's America's Cup winner Margherita Porro. La Roche-Posay will certainly field Quentin Delapierre and Diego Botín as helmsmen for Sardinia, with Enzo Balanger as an alternative. Alinghi is counting on Nicolas Rolaz to achieve a strong result, and while the full team hasn't yet been announced, it's likely an Olympic gold medalist and a former world champion could be on board.
(Unioneonline)
