sailboat racing new zealand

Published on March 24th, 2024 | by Editor

New Zealand wins New Zealand SailGP

Published on March 24th, 2024 by Editor -->

Peter Burling’s New Zealand team delighted home fans by winning New Zealand SailGP held March 23-24 in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Kiwis topped France and Canada in the Final, securing a picture-perfect start and executing a flawless race to claim victory on Lyttelton Harbour.

After the cancellation of racing on the first day due to dolphin activity on the race course, the final day had ten teams racing in three fleet races with the top three advancing to the winner-takes-all final podium race.

The first race of the day went the way of hometown favorites with New Zealand taking the lead on the start and finishing by overtaking France on the final mark to claim the opening victory on Lyttelton Harbour.

Critically, season leader Australia was ruled out of the event following a collision with a course mark just after the start, leaving them with event-ending damage to the green and gold F50.

“The moment was a blur,” admitted Driver Tom Slingsby. “As we rounded mark one, we had two boats on our inside (to the boundary) and we looked like we were going to hit Canada. The decision was so quick but keeping the team safe is the most important thing so we went straight for the mark. I’m just glad that all our people are safe.”

Race two went the way of Canada – with native Kiwi driver Phil Robertson at the wheel. The race felt from the get go that it really was Canada’s race with Robertson in jest telling the crowd of his victory, “I think I just became the favorite Kiwi putting the Aussies out of the running in the first race.”

The third and final race to the podium saw Quentin Delapierre’s France take the win, resulting in three races with three different winners – France, New Zealand, and defending champions Canada – set to go head-to-head in the three-boat podium final.

A strong start from the Kiwis saw Canada having to keep clear of them on the line, with Burling taking the first mark with France in hot pursuit. Canada split the pack after the second mark, a decision that caused them to trail for the remainder of the race and allowing the Kiwis to take a strong early lead, ahead of France, which they held onto for the duration of the race.

The win for New Zealand and the resulting penalty points awarded to Australia for the damage caused in race 1 – a total of 12 season points – sees the Kiwi’s top the overall leaderboard, nine points in front of Australia. However, Australia have requested a points penalty review, and there remains the question whether Slingsby’s team will be repaired in time for the Bermuda Sail Grand Prix on May 4-5.

“The whole front beam has broken and they take a 3-4 months to build one of those and this one is a complete write off,” he said. “It will be a matter of whether there is a spare one in stock whether we’ll be racing in Bermuda.”

Other teams to accrue penalty points were: • Great Britain penalized eight points for making contact with Switzerland during practice racing. • Denmark penalized eight points for making contact with Canada during Fleet Race 1.

SailGP information – Christchurch details – YouTube – How to watch

Christchurch Final Results 1. New Zealand (Peter Burling), 1-4-2-(1) 2. France (Quintin Delapierre), 2-5-1-(2) 3. Canada (Phil Robertson), 5-1-3-(3) 4. Spain (Diego Botin), 3-2-4 5. Germany (Erik Heil), 6-6-5 6. Switzerland (Nathan Outteridge), 7-7-7 7. Great Britain (Giles Scott), 4-3-8 8. United States (Taylor Canfield), 9-9-9 9. Denmark (Nicolai Sehested), 8-8-6 10. Australia (Tom Slingsby), 10-DNC-DNC

Season 4 Standings (after nine of 13 events; results and total points) 1. New Zealand (Peter Burling), 1-7-8-DNC/6-4-1-1-3-1; 68 points 2. Australia (Tom Slingsby), 2-3-2-2-3-2-7-1-10; 59 3. Spain (Diego Botin), 5-1-3-6-6-10-2-5-4; 55 4. France (Quintin Delapierre), 6-8-6-4-7-4-4-4-2; 54 5. Denmark (Nicolai Sehested), 4-2-4-7-2-6-9-2-9; 50 6. United States (Jimmy Spithill/Taylor Canfield), 9-5-5-3-1-8-3-9-8; 48 7. Canada (Phil Robertson), 3-4-10-5-5-3-6-10-3; 46 8. Great Britain (Ben Ainslie/Giles Scott), 7-6-1-1-8-5-8-7-7; 45 9. Germany (Erik Heil), 10-10-7-8-9-10-9-5-6-5; 27 10. Switzerland (Sebastien Schneiter/Nathan Outteridge), 8-9-9-9-7-10-8-6; 22

For scoring adjustments, click here .

Season 4 – 2023 June 16-17 – United States Sail Grand Prix | Chicago at Navy Pier July 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | Los Angeles September 9-10 – France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez September 23-24 – Italy Sail Grand Prix | Taranto October 14-15 – Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía- Cádiz December 9-10 – Dubai Sail Grand Prix | Dubai*

Season 4 – 2024 January 13-14 – Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix | Abu Dhabi February 24-25 – Australia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney March 23-24 – New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland March 23-24 – New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Christchurch May 4-5 – Bermuda Sail Grand Prix June 1-2 – Canada Sail Grand Prix | Halifax June 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | New York July 13-14 – SailGP Season 4 Grand Final | San Francisco * Added October 3, 2023

Format for Season 4: • Teams compete in identical F50 catamarans. • Each event runs across two days. • Up to seven qualifying fleet races of approximately 15 minutes may be scheduled for each regatta. • The top three teams from qualifying advance to a final race to be crowned event champion and earn the largest share of the $300,000.00 USD event prize money purse (increases to $400k for Abu Dhabi with the winning team now earning $200k at each event). • The season ends with the Grand Final, which includes the Championship Final Race for the top three teams in the season standing with the winner claiming the $2 million USD prize. • The top team on points ahead of the three-boat Championship Final will be awarded $350,000.00.

For competition documents, click here .

Established in 2018, SailGP seeks to be an annual, global sports league featuring fan-centric inshore racing among national teams in some of the iconic harbors around the globe.

Source: SailGP

Tags: New Zeland SailGP Team , SailGP , SailGP Christchurch

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Live updates: NZ Sail Grand Prix at Lyttelton Harbour, Christchurch, Day One

NZ strategist Liv Mackay in practice at NZ SailGP. Credits: Image - Photosport; video - Newshub

App users click here for latest updates

Placings: 1-Canada 10pts, 2-NZ 9pts, 3-GB 8pts, 4-USA 7pts, 5-France 6pts, 6-Switzerland 5pts, 7-Spain 4pts, 8-Denmark 3pts, 9-Australia 2pts

Overall: 1-NZ 28pts, 2-Canada 24pts, 3-GB 23pts, 4-France 21pts, 5-Australia 18pts, 6-USA 16pts, 7-Switzerland 14pts, 8-Denmark 10pts, 9-Spain 8pts

Great day for the Kiwis, with three top-two finishes. They have inside running towards the final, but two more races tomorrow before we get there. 

Some teams have work to do, with Australia suffering some damage, and GB and France battling for a spot in the final, behind Canada.

Join us again tomorrow for the second day of racing at Lyttelton.

Canada cross first, but NZ right on their heels, with GB an important third. USA next, then France.

Top speed for the race was 88.2kph by Canada

Canada and NZ head into the last gate, Canadians still ahead...

Canada ahead at the gate, NZ second and GB third. Kiwis split and have right of way next time they cross with Canada.

NZ and GB have all the speeed, and they are gaining on Canada. Mini match race between NZ and GB, but the Aussies have a broken rudder and trail in eighth.

Kiwis within 85 metres of Canada, British chasing them hard and now right on them.

Canada still ahead and NZ follow them around the fourth gate. GB third and France are now up to fourth.

Kiwis have dropped the Aussies and GB also move through into third.

Canada first around, but NZ and Australia have right of way over GB and are next around. They split from the Canadians and head down the right of the course.

The Kiwis may have edged ahead of GB, as they head into the gate

Canada into a big lead, GB second, NZ third

Canada head into Gate Two, but NZ now third, behind France. The French fall off the foils and suffer a penalty, after turning too close to the Aussies.

Big pack at the head of the field, but NZ off the back, serving their penalty. They move through the fleet to second, great recovery.

Spithill hits the line first and fastest for USA, with the Kiwis trailling at the back of the field.

One minute to go and NZ have taken a middle course for this start. They incur a boundary penalty...

Another seven legs with wind speed of 28kph.

Winds have become gustier through the course of the afternoon and the finish-line has moved as a result. France are having trouble with their boat, with only three minutes until the start of the next race.

Placings: 1-NZ 10pts, 2-Australia 9pts, 3-Canada 8pts, 4-GB 7pts, 5-USA 6pts, 6-France 5pts, 7-Switzerland 4pts, 8-Denmark 3pts, 9-Spain 2pts

Overall: 1-NZ 19pts, 2-Australia 16pts, 3-France & GB 15pts, 5-Canada 14pts, 6-Switzerland & USA 9pts, 8-Denmark 7pts, 9-Spain 4pts

NZ take the lead of the regatta, with the Aussies second, and France and GB battling for the third spot

NZ heading straight to the finish and will take the win. Great result for  their hopes of making tomorrow's final, beating Australia.

NZ now 71kph and lead by 250 metres, heading to the last gate, then a sprint to the finish

They round Gate Five ahead, Australia second and Canada third...GB have moved up the fleet to fifth, but France eighth

Kiwis leading downwind at 58kph, with Australia second. They've picked up a windshift and are now more than 100 metres clear.

Aussies follow Kiwis around fourth gate and almost crash. NZ only just recover from that turn, but Aussies have lost ground.

NZ and Australia on opposite sides of the course again and the Kiwis ahead now, Canada third... GB seventh and France eighth.

Australia have to dip under the Kiwis at the gate, so NZ lead around gate three

NZ dip below Australia, but will hold right-of-way next time they meet. Canada in third, then Denmack and France back in sixth, GB at the rear, so good news for the Kiwis.

Australia and NZ split to opposite sides of the course, Spain teeter and almost capsize. Denmark in third, same side as Australia.

Australia and NZ head the field into the second gate...

The fleet head towards the right layline and then Gate Two, still jockeying for positions.

NZ catch that start perfectly, Australia in the lead, but the Kiwis fastest on the line...

One minute siren sounds, with NZ at the right end of the field and one of the last to turn towards the line.

Two minutes until the start of Race Two, so very little time to reflect in this rapidfire format. Confirmation of seven legs again for this race, same as the first.

Placings: 1-France 10pts, 2-NZ 9pts, 3-GB 8pts, 4-Australia 7pts, 5-Canada 6pts, 6-Switzerland 5pts, 7-Denmark 4pts, 8-USA 3pts, 9-Spain 2pts

Good start from the Kiwis, as they try to nail a spot in tomorrow's final and only three boats progressing, but their nearest rivals are also right there in contention.

Kiwis have split from France and have just one manoeuvre, compared to two from their opponents, but France have too much speed and win the race.

NZ are second, 13 seconds back, and GB third.

French have lengthened their advantage again over the Kiwis, as they approach the sixth gate and head to the finish

France around the fifth gate first and go right, NZ head left, GB and Australia follow France. Canad and Denmark almost collide at the gate

NZ closing right up on France on the right layline

France round the fourth gate first, NZ go right, but the Aussies split left.

NZ closing on the French, now within 125m, GB and Australia dicing for third

USA and Switzerland have penalties for leaving the course

France have opened up a couple of hundred metres in the lead and NZ still second, with Australia third

Aussies tack in front of the Kiwis, France round first and NZ second, Australia, then GB

Kiwis have moved into second and gaining on the French upwind to the third gate.

Upwind, France in the lead, Australia second, NZ in fourth, behind Canada and closing on the French.

France lead around gate two, Australia next, NZ close on the leaders

Canada hold the lead at the first mark, but the field still spread across the track as they turn towards gate two. NZ back in seventh, France take the lead...

Clean start by all, with Canada in the middle and NZ at the right, trying to round the field.

Timing is everything here, as the boats round towards the line.

Less than two minutes and boats are milling around the start area, preparing to unleash their pre-start manoeuvres. One minute to go now...

3:36pm - The dolphins have gone and racing will begin in six minutes.

3:30pm - Still no sailing on the course, as dolphins pass through...

3:11pm - The first race has been delayed, after a dolphin sighting near the course. SailGP is very conscious of preserving the ocean and its wildlife, so the dolphins must come first.

3:02pm - The format for racing this weekend will see three races today and two more tomorrow, before the three-boat regatta final.

Beautiful day at Lyttelton with a nice wind - perfect conditions.

Just under eight minutes to the start of Race One.

NZ driver Peter Burling is downplaying the Aussie rivalry, despite their complaints that the Kiwis snuck out on the course for a quick reconnaissance.

The defending champions are there purely for nuisance value today, as they have clinched their spot in the Grand Final and can only influence who their opponents will be.

Kia ora, good afternoon and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of NZ Sail Grand Prix at Christchurch's Lyttelton Harbour.

After COVID-19 delays, New Zealand finally gets to host a leg of the sailing world series on home waters and this particular regatta - the penultimate event on the 2022/23 scheduled - couldn't come at a better time for the home team.

With two-time defending champions Australia well clear at the top of the standings and assured of a spot in the decider at San Francisco in May, the Kiwis currently occupy second spot, with the field snapping at their heels.

More from Newshub

Only three teams will contest the final, so Peter Burling and Blair Tuke will be keen to take advantage of their local knowledge to clinch one of those spots.

Like Burling and Tuke, many of the other leading sailors are well know to NZ fans through their involvement in America's Cup, so established rivalries will come to the fore, especially old mates Jimmy Spithill and Sir Ben Ainslie.

Join us at 3pm for all the onwater action.

TAB Odds: NZ $3, Australia $3.40, France $5.50, Great Britain $7, Denmark $13, USA $15, Canada $17, Spain $26, Switzerland $31

Overall standings: 1-Australia 76 points, 2-NZ 64, 3-France 63, 4-Great Britain 61, 5-Denmark 57, 6-USA 53, 7-Canada 49, 8-Spain 27, 9-Switzerland 25

'Redheaded stepchild': Spithill's colourful relationship with Kiwis continues at SailGP

Alex Powell

Jimmy Spithill is the man Kiwi sailing fans have long loved to hate and he's relishing that tag once again, as SailGP makes its New Zealand debut at Lyttelton this weekend.

Spithill was at the helm as the man responsible for one of the greatest heartbreaks in New Zealand sporting history.

In 2013, at 8-1 down in the America's Cup final at San Francisco, Spithill masterminded a fairytale recovery effort, as Oracle Team USA came back to stun Team NZ to snatch the 'Auld Mug'.

Team NZ got their own back in Bermuda four years later, but Spithill's status as the archetypal sporting villain will forever endure - not that he minds.

As SailGP makes its belated debut in New Zealand, the Aussie is back in the heart of enemy territory.

Despite his Australian roots, Spithill is the chief executive and driver of Team USA, and will compete on Kiwi waters once again at a vital time in the campaign.

Back in Aotearoa, he's been reminded how he's viewed by Kiwis. 

"A guy came up to me on the street the other day and said, 'You're basically the redheaded stepchild of New Zealand'," Spithill joked. "I took it as a compliment, obviously.

"I've got a lot of friends, fans and feedback here, for sure. It's a great place.

"I've never been to Christchurch, [it's my] first time down here, it's an amazing city… the forecast looks unreal. I'm pretty pumped to get out there."

With only one regular leg left before the Grand Final in May, Spithill's Team USA sit sixth in SailGP's standings, 24 points off first-placed Australia and nine points adrift of the top three.

A good performance this weekend will boost USA's chances of reaching the finale, needing a top three finish to qualify, but even with it all to do over the coming days, Spithill knows his side have what it takes.

"There's a lot of points still available, just in the amount of racing that's there," he added. "With the penalty system, any time there's damage or a collision, there's also a lot of points that can be lost - quickly.

"From my point of view, it's possible, we have to believe that, but at the end of the day, if you think too far ahead to the finish-line, it's a waste of energy. You've really got to focus on one race at a time, that's the situation we're in.

"We're one of a few teams that have shown we can actually win this season. We've had a few good results, we've had some bad ones too.

"San Francisco is a big one for us. We'd love to get ready for that one and come out firing.

"Who knows, we'll see what can happen. Things can change really quick in SailGP."

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EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND QUALIFY FOR PRELIMINARY REGATTA FINAL AFTER WIN OVER ALINGHI RED BULL RACING ON DAY 3.

Emirates Team New Zealand had just one race on the penultimate day of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta against Alinghi Red Bull Racing - a win would set the kiwis up to comfortably qualify for the top two final race on Sunday that will decide the preliminary regatta winner.

In a lighter 7-10 breeze it was a click down on the racing conditions seen so far in the preliminary regatta but a comfortable range for Taihoro and the Emirates Team New Zealand sailing team to line up against the Swiss challengers.

AMERICA’ S CUP RACE REPORT

Emirates Team New Zealand (Port Entry) vs. Alinghi Red Bull Racing

The overnight leaders of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta, Emirates Team New Zealand are looking for a clean race here against Alinghi Red Bull Racing and it’s Nathan Outteridge steering from the port pod who brings ‘Taihoro’ into the pre-start box a couple of seconds late and heads deep into the box accepting the trail of the Swiss. At the gybe, the Kiwis go first but then bear away under the Swiss before getting trapped high. However, it’s the first time we’ve seen a split-tack start as the Kiwis tack away and take the starboard end, starting on port and heading over to the right. Alinghi Red Bull Racing make a near-perfect start at the port end and head to the left of the course but as both boats come back together in the middle of the course, it’s Emirates Team New Zealand who have the advantage and begin bouncing the Swiss left.

The tacking duel up the middle of the course was revealing with the Kiwis gaining through every tack and into the final quarter of the beat their lead had stretched in excess of 100 metres. Frustrating for the Swiss, the tight cover was sending dirty air down the course and at the first windward mark it was Emirates Team New Zealand with a 12 second lead.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing are the first to gybe, covered loosely by the Kiwis and both boats head down the course on a long port gybe as the lead stretched to in excess of 400 metres. At the first leeward mark, the Kiwis set up to take the starboard marker and headed upwind to the left with a smooth one-board round-up. The Swiss followed suit, showing good boat-handling, taking the port marker and headed to the right boundary.  Emirates Team New Zealand came back from the left to cover on a nice pressure build and then slapped the cover on the Swiss ruthlessly.

With the wind dropping, the Race Committee reduced the length of the legs to just 1.45 miles and the pressure came on the Flight Controllers through the manoeuvres to keep the boat flying. Smoothness through the tacks is something of a hallmark for the Kiwis and they showed great exit speeds so that by the second windward mark, they rounded the port marker at almost 38 knots but with an increased lead of some 45 seconds.

No mistakes on the Kiwi boat, keeping the power-on and showing some lovely windward heel to get the maximum out of a dying breeze whilst still flying upwind in excess of 32 knots and keeping tacks to a minimum. At the final windward mark, Emirates Team New Zealand opted to take the starboard marker in order to play the left side of the run and headed off to the left boundary with a lead now extended out to one minute and 15 seconds. Just two gybes down the final leg and the victory went to the Kiwis with a winning delta of one minute 15 seconds. Impressive sailing in very tricky conditions from Emirates Team New Zealand.

Emirates Team New Zealand beat Alinghi Red Bull Racing (75 seconds)

The win, confirming Emirates Team New Zealand a place in the Preliminary Regatta final tomorrow, was again shaped in the pre start. Skipper Peter Burling explains, “We really wanted the right of the start line and then when Alinghi Red Bull Racing jumped us early we thought we would take on the split tack start. We haven't seen any split starts at this event so it's good to get one under our belt and it seemed to work out alright.

Talking about Taihoro and the performance of the boat overall, Burling said:

“We are really happy with our boat across the range, I think it a lot of it is about actually understanding how to sail the boat or how to use your equipment well and we're still learning a lot about that. But we are really happy in those conditions. We haven’t actually seen it that light like that for a little while so it was a little bit of just switching back into that mode up the first beat and I'm really happy with the way we did.”

Looking ahead to tomorrow, to complete the round robin Emirates Team New Zealand have a much anticipated match up against American Magic who will be coming off a loss to Orient Express Racing Team due to rudder damage in the pre start today.

Then the 4 day regatta will come down the final winner takes all match race to decide the winner of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta.

Tune into Stuff, Three, ThreeNow and www.americascup.com for all races live, replays and highlights every race day.

New Zealand Sail Maker, Superyacht, Racing, Cruising Sails

New zealand.

Evolution Sails New Zealand is owned by Rodney Keenan.  The company forms part of the Evolution Group, an international, world class sail manufacturing, sail repair and service organization.

ENZ manufactures and services sails for superyachts, grand prix racing yachts, large cruising yachts and domestic racing and cruising yachts.

ENZ brings their world class sailing skills, leading edge design and quality-led innovation to ensure projects are secured with the international sector.

Evolution New Zealand has a worldwide reputation for focusing on their customers’ needs – high performance quality sails and strong service support. ENZ is aware that its reputation for quality and service is paramount. Face-to-face visits with its clients enable them to have input into the design process. ENZ is driven by the passion to build the best sail, customizing each particular sail to the specific needs of the customer.

The Team - New Zealand

Director of ENZ, Rodney Keenan, is a sail maker and more often than not, a competitive yacht racer. His knowledge about the industry is deep as he regularly interacts with boat designers, boat owners and boat captains as the sales person and project developer and attends relevant trade shows.

Rodney travels overseas regularly to service clients, sail in international regattas, and fit, service and maintain sails.

Rodney is complemented by his team of world class sail makers who are passionate sailors themselves. Their experiences span Amercia’s Cup, Volvo Round the World and Olympic Games campaigns. ENZ operates from a purpose built sail making facility in Auckland, City of Sails.

Start at the beginning with premium sail design and finish with great service!

Loft Location - New Zealand

Location 726 Matakana Road Warkworth Auckland 0985

Phone: +64 9 838 1482

Contact:  Rodney Keenan Email: rodney @evolutionsails.com  Mobile:  +64 21 486 135

Contact: Josh Tucker Email: josh @evolutionsails.com  Mobile:  +64 22 499 6135

Contact Evolution Sails - New Zealand

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Radio sailing is a popular exciting sport in New Zealand. There are a number of classes of radio-controlled yachts that you can choose to sail for fun and in competitions.

The NZRYA have affiliated Class Associations for these different classes of RC yachts.

There are radio-controlled yacht  sailing clubs  around the country that you can choose to join. Clubs are located as far north as Keri Keri and as far south as Otago and Cromwell.

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2024 sat 31 aug All Day sun 01 sep Taranaki Classic IOM Regatta Class IOM Event Type Regional Event Organized By New Plymouth Radio Control Yacht Club Lake Rotomanu - New Plymouth Radio Control Yacht Club , Clemow Road, Fitzroy, New Plymouth

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2024 sat 07 sep All Day sun 08 DF95 South Island Championships Class DF95 Event Type Regional Event Organized By Pegasus Radio Sailing Club Lake Pegasus - Pegasus Radio Sailing Club , Lake Pegasus, Kaiapoi, South Island, New Zealand

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2024 fri 04 oct All Day sun 06 IOM National Championships Class IOM Event Type National, Ranking Regatta Event Organized By Cromwell Radio Yacht Squadron Lake Dunstan - Cromwell Radio Yacht Squadron , Partridge Road, Cromwell 9310, New Zealand

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The High-Adrenaline Racing of SailGP, Where Boats Don’t Float—They Fly

Three-time Rolex Sailor of the Year Tom Slingsby gives us a glimpse into a new sort of sailing.

Ever wanted a new sport to get into? Perhaps one that combines adrenaline, high-tech thrills and spills, and exotic locations? SailGP might be for you. Think of it as Formula 1 on water, with ten nations battling it out in 50-foot-long, 80-foot-tall high-tech racing catamarans powered entirely by the wind. But here’s the thing: They don’t sail. They fly—and fast.

SailGP, founded in 2019, is the brainchild of billionaire sailing nut Larry Ellison and New Zealander Sir Russell Coutts, arguably the most famous and successful competitive sailor in the sport’s history. From the get-go, the pair’s idea was not to create just another race series for yachty insiders but a global, spectator-friendly event that could capitalize on the new advances in sail racing afforded by foiling technology. This year, the season reached 193 million viewers, up 48 percent from 2023. Taking more than a little inspiration from Formula 1, SailGP set out to attract non-sailors to this burgeoning sport, partly by staging the races in nontraditional waters, like Abu Dhabi, Bermuda, and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Since its inception, the SailGP competition has been sponsored by Rolex, which has long been a supporter of all manner of sailing. Last year, the brand extended its support by ten more years. As well as a $2 million purse for his team, the winning skipper at the grand finale, which this season took place below the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, receives a titanium Yacht-Master II.

Many of sailing’s luminaries are also key members of Rolex’s Testimonee program, evangelizing for both sailing and its unique connection with ocean sustainability. One of them is Tom Slingsby, helm and CEO of SailGP’s Team Australia and three-time Rolex Sailor of the Year. At the top of his game, Slingsby, 39, has carried off three of the four SailGP championships for Team Australia since it began in 2019.

Foiling, just a decade-and-change old, has transformed competitive sailing. Put simply, thanks to the physics of hydrostatic pressure, by sailing on carbon-fiber blades, an entire 50-foot racing catamaran can lift itself out of the water, reducing the drag coefficient to almost nothing and producing speeds unimaginable just 15 years ago. Often this means the boat moves three, even four times faster than the wind.

“You see spectators’ faces when you go past them doing nearly 100 kilometers an hour on the water and at four times the wind speed,” Slingsby says. “It’s unbelievable.” Foiling has almost doubled competitive sailing’s top speed—and it’s getting faster all the time. Not that speed is really the aim here.

“I don’t think it’s SailGP’s goal to set an outright speed record or anything like that,” Slingsby explains. “What we want is a good racing product. Our hydrofoils don’t need to just go super fast in a straight line; they need to go around a racetrack efficiently, to take off in light airs and sail well in strong airs, and be maneuverable when tacking and jibing.”

But getting there requires both skill and experience in a fast-evolving sport, as well as an array of technology and data gathering. So called “aviation officers” on each team have one job: to keep the race boat flying on its foils in constantly changing conditions. When they don’t, interesting things can happen.

Slingsby will probably race any boat you put in front of him. There’s a reason for that. “In the Olympics in 2008,” he says, “I went in as a favorite to win the Laser gold medal and I choked—basically I finished 22nd. Then my good friend Nathan Outteridge [a fellow Australian and helm of SailGP Team Switzerland] was leading going into the final race and ended up coming away with fifth and missing a medal. We were both really depressed. We were sitting having a beer after the Olympics and he said, ‘We’ve just got to sail more. Let’s just sail every type of boat, learn every type of skill, and that way we will be hard to beat.’”

Slingsby (and Outteridge) did just that, diving headfirst into the nascent sport of foiling at just the right time. Both went on to win Olympic golds.

“I’m very fortunate that I actually got to be part of sailing before foiling came along,” Slingsby says. “I went to the Olympics in Lasers, probably the simplest boat in the world, and then I was there when the America’s Cup boats started hydrofoiling. Now I’m here now with SailGP, the fastest and most amazing foiling league in the world, and it’s really taking our sport to new levels.”

Unlike Formula 1, there’s a deliberately bare-bones vibe to the infrastructure of SailGP to make the whole competition as environmentally sustainable as possible. The tagline is, after all, “Powered by Nature.”

“SailGP is at the top of the sport,” Slingsby explains, “so it filters down through the whole of sailing. We see and deal with ocean health every day; we see it much more than, say, tennis players do, or F1 drivers, or track athletes. We’re out there dealing with Mother Nature; it’s probably just us and surfers. It’s our responsibility to raise awareness.”

Off the water, the Impact Awards challenge GP teams to come up with ingenious ways to reduce waste and save on resources. For instance, the race catamarans—which all have the same design—were designed so they can be disassembled and fit into a single 40-foot container.

The benefit of one-design racing is that it levels the playing field. Skill becomes much more pivotal. Each boat has around 160 electronic sensors, tracking every setting of the boat, especially below the waterline, where the angle of attack of the foils is critical. Win or lose, at the end of a race day, all those recorded settings are beamed straight to the cloud and are immediately accessible to the other teams and their tacticians.

“Initially, I really didn’t like it,” says Slingsby of the data sharing. “We were the top team, and every day we’d go out and be losing advantage to our competitors because they would see our data from that day, and they were getting closer and closer. But now, I think it’s just good for SailGP. The racing is so much tighter.”

Tighter, but also more human. While material failures account for a proportion of crashes, decisions made by a skipper in a split second—or simply a split second too late—can throw out a whole race.

Another curiosity of SailGP is the way the finals are set up. The point system gives the race winner ten points, second place receives nine points, and so on. But the finals are where it gets interesting. The grand-finale weekend consists of five qualifying fleet races featuring all ten teams, and then the final race itself. Only the top three teams get to race in the final, with their seasonal scores effectively erased. Which means a team could be third overall for the season and still win the grand finale in the last few minutes of the season. It makes for a gripping race.

That’s precisely what happened last month in San Francisco, where third-place Spain, skippered by Diego Botin, edged out league leaders New Zealand and Australia in a race that lasted just ten minutes.

Slingsby, for his part, is currently in Barcelona, where that other great sailing race, the America’s Cup, is underway. SailGP’s 2024-25 season kicks off in November in Dubai. Two new teams are rumored to be joining the fray, attracted by the unique approach to racing established for SailGP.

“The America’s Cup is a development game,” says Slingsby. “You design your own boat and you’re just trying to make it the fastest you possibly can on the water. Essentially, you’re in training boats for three years and then you get three or four months in your actual race boat. You really do one important event in four years. With SailGP, we get to race for a full season every year. So for sure, SailGP is my favorite thing to do, because it’s consistent racing every month. Me, I’m a racer.”

Nick Sullivan is Creative Director at Esquire, where he served as Fashion Director from 2004 until 2019. Prior to that, he relocated from London with his young family to Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. He has styled and art directed countless fashion and cover stories for both Esquire and Big Black Book ( which he helped found in 2006) in exotic,uncomfortable, and occasionally unfeasibly cold locations. He also writes extensively about men’s style, accessories, and watches. He describes his style as elegantly disheveled.

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The Marvelous AC75s On Deck

• By Dave Reed
• August 20, 2024

April began with new-boat reveals that highlight the innovations of the second-generation AC75s for the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup . While similar in size and scale, no one boat is alike. 

Alinghi Red Bull Racing, of the Swiss camp, was first to show its AC75, BoatOne , in a theatric soiree, giving observers and other teams a peek at the boat’s design traits. Its straight and narrow bow profile transitions to a long and tapered bustle that goes all the way to the stern. The walls of BoatOne ’s tall crew pods stop sharply before the transom section, leaving what amounts to a long overhang to accommodate the internal rudder elements. Bumps sculpted into the foredeck are said to redirect wind flow into the jib and down the middle of the boat for aerodynamic gains.

America’s Cup defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, was next to reveal, with a soft launch, followed by a foiling session the following day. With a naming ceremony that came a week later, the Kiwis’ AC75, Taihoro , was blessed for action, and they went straight into sailing in Auckland. Unlike the high cockpit walls of Alinghi’s BoatOne , however, those of Taihoro taper down toward to the ­transom scoop, which houses the mainsheet traveler system in a trench, and the rudder assembly.

The following day in Cagliari, the Italians of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli rolled out their metallic silver AC75, a menacing-looking design that has its pronounced curves and a significant bustle which rises toward the stern. The boat’s tall cockpits produce a deep trench through the middle of the boat. 

INEOS Britannia was fourth from behind the curtain with a boat dubbed RB3 . It’s different enough from Alinghi’s and ETNZ’s AC75s to be dangerous. The plumb bow starts sharp and maintains a steep deadrise before flaring out to a flatter bottom. A pronounced ­bustle tapers off near the stern and transitions to a thin skeg that ends short of the rudder.

The New York YC’s American Magic revealed its boat, Patriot , in early May, blessing it and going sailing on the same day. It’s certainly a different look, summarized by the team’s design coordinator, Scott Ferguson. “We followed our own design path with Patriot as we pushed the limits of the AC75 rule while tailoring for the Barcelona venue,” he says. “Our overall philosophy is minimalistic, as we’ve tried to squeeze down our volumes to the base minimum while still fitting the crew and systems into the boat.”

With the French Orient Express Racing Team pulling from Team New Zealand’s design package, there’s an expectation that its ­platform will not be too far off the defender when it comes to light soon enough. It had not yet been launched at press time.

In terms of crew-pod assignments, cyclors have now taken the back seats, mostly concealed and out of the airstream, while ­trimmers and helmsmen take the front seats for a better view of the action. American Magic went to the extreme, positioning three pods inboard, two well aft in the boat, with cyclors on recumbent bikes.

• More: Alinghi Red Bull Racing , America's Cup , America's Cup 37 , American Magic , Emirates Team New Zealand , INEOS Britannia , Luna Rossa Prada ­Pirelli , Racing , Sailboat Racing
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New Zealand’s Thrilling Win Gets the America’s Cup Off to a Rip-Roaring Start

The America’s Cup, after years of talking and months of practicing, is officially on.

Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ), the defenders of the last America’s Cup , claimed victory yesterday in the opening round robin of the Louis Vuitton Preliminary Regatta, with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli claiming second place in Barcelona. The results are a repeat of the 2021 Cup in New Zealand, when New Zealand claimed victory over the Italians.

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The match race between the two teams in yesterday’s finals was arguably the best during the four-day series, showing the prowess of both the teams and their boats, with the Kiwis coming out on top in a race that could’ve gone either way. New Zealand celebrated by aiming large magnums of Champagne at each other.

But this four-day round-robin, only good for bragging rights, is just the start of the three-month series of yacht-racing. The Louis Vuitton Cup starts Thursday and runs through October 5, when the overall winner faces New Zealand in the 10-day America’s Cup Match, ending on October 21.

If it sounds like a long season, it is. But the America’s Cup has slowly evolved from an often boring, elitist “sport” held offshore in very slow boats, into something of a tech spectacle with fast, foiling, 75-foot monohulls, called AC75s, that all have the same specs, with some modifications allowed. But not much. The idea is to make the event a more level playing field, technically and financially. Previous America’s Cups have favored the wealthiest teams that could afford technical modifications often executed in days to give an edge over competitors.

“New Zealand and Italy look really strong this year, with both strong boats and teams,” Dave Reed, editor-in-chief of Sailing World, tells Robb Report. “But the American team is also a contender. They have a really fast boat and some of the best sailors in the event.”

ETNZ chose Barcelona as the race venue because it would draw thousands of Europeans and North Americans to watch the races in person. Its sponsors range from tony brands such as Prada and Louis Vuitton (which is sponsoring all events this year) to the world’s most famous professional race sponsor Red Bull , which promised to inject excitement into the event.

The teams are now projecting competitive scrappiness rather than erudite sophistication, with a racecourse that encourages close encounters at speeds reaching 58 mph. But the dangers are mitigated this year, since there’s an electronic boundary around each boat that dishes out penalties to competitors that wander into their opponents’ territories.

Last week’s series, which pitted one team against another in head-to-head match races, showed flashes of brilliance and many self-inflicted errors, but also how fast and nimble the AC75s are.

The New York Yacht Club’s American Magic team, which took third place overall because of a broken rudder early in the series, beat the New Zealand Defenders soundly on the last day of racing, showing the world it was a serious contender. American Magic’s AC75, called Patriot, outdistanced the Kiwis by more than nearly 700 yards on the final stretch.  “It’s hard not to be happy, but we still got third in the series,” says Terry Hutchinson, skipper and president of American Magic. “You may win a couple of battles but don’t win the war, so you’ve got to keep the bigger picture in mind. That’s what we will do.”

The pundits seem to be favoring Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and American Magic as the top contenders of the Defenders, with the Swiss Alinghi Red Bull Racing, with its team of young sailors, the U.K. team INEOS and France’s Orient Express Racing, on the second tier. The Kiwis are generally seen as the Cup favorites, helped by the fact that they won’t be racing any other teams until they meet the Louis Vuitton Cup winner in the America’s Cup finals.

“The America’s Cup is already over, we just don’t know who won yet,” Grant Dalton, head of ETNZ, told Robb Report several weeks ago. “The crew is important, but the only possible winner of the competition will be the fastest boat. The decisions that teams took from a technical point of view two years ago and the people that were hired, have dictated—not will dictate—the outcome already.” Not surprisingly, Dalton favored his own team as the Cup winners, with the Italians placing second.

But the dynamics could change over the next few months as the teams become more familiar with their boats and racing conditions in the Med. Beyond a team’s racing prowess, a mechanical failure could end the hopes of any team at a critical juncture. That happened to American Magic in the 2021 Louis Vuitton series.

Last week’s round-robins gave a glimpse of how the next races could unfold as the five Challenger teams compete against each other. For the most part, the boats performed well through the four days, with the final day being particularly challenging, with unstable winds and a confused sea state. Most were worried about boats breaking, something that could’ve been disastrous just days away from the Louis Vuitton Cup. But the teams soldiered on with only minor technical problems, looking forward to what should be a great three months of racing.

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America’s Cup contenders: Sailing professor Mark Orams ranks the teams on the eve of Barcelona racing

Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team will be the teams to beat in Barcelona. Photo / Carlo Borlenghi

THREE KEY FACTS

• Team New Zealand defended the America’s Cup in Auckland in 2021, before taking the defence to Barcelona
• The preliminary regatta starts this week, with Team New Zealand sailing against the challengers
• Louis Vuitton Challenger Series starts next week

Professor Mark Orams is a former NZ and world champion sailor, Team New Zealand member, author, environmentalist and Professor of Sport and Recreation at the Auckland University Technology.

Here we go again. The business end of the 37th America’s Cup is about to kick off with the preliminary regatta commencing at midnight on Thursday (NZ time).

This initial four-day regatta will set the form book for the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series next week.

Emirates Team New Zealand have set the rules (with the agreement of the Challenger of Record INEOS Britannia) to allow themselves to compete in both the preliminary regatta and the first rounds of the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series. This strategy is a smart play to reduce the single biggest risk for the America’s Cup defender: isolation.

By being able to sail in these early rounds, the Kiwis get to check in and see how their design decisions, configurations and modes stack up against the competition. They played another smart card by sharing their design with the new French challenger, Orient Express Racing.

As a first-time America’s Cup competitor, and the last to launch their new AC75 yacht, the French are unlikely to progress far in the Challenger Series but their basic Emirates Team New Zealand design package provides the Kiwi team with a surrogate – and vital knowledge – in the Challenger Series.

Sail GP has also played into the hands of the Kiwis. The ETNZ crew were rusty in the first few races of the 36th America’s Cup regatta. They had only been racing against their chase boat and in the simulator for weeks while the challengers were competing on the Waitematā. The Sail GP series has given the core ETNZ crew regular racing in identical F50 foiling catamarans against their key competitors, and in a similar format to, the 37th America’s Cup.

That’s all good news for the Kiwis.

While this stacks the deck in favour of the defender, it won’t negate a challenger with a faster boat.

Apart from the French and New Zealand boats, which are nearly identical, the hull designs for this second iteration of the foiling AC75 class are quite different from one another.

Each team have come up with a solution to the design challenge meaning they will be faster in different wind and sea-state conditions. Barcelona is a tricky venue and as the season transitions from summer to autumn, it will become more variable. Adapting and moding the boats to the conditions for any particular race, and even within a race, will be vital to winning.

My rankings/predictions for this preliminary regatta:

1. Emirates Team New Zealand : The Kiwi team wrote the rules for this AC75 Version 2 design and have the advantage of being a step ahead with their previous Version 1 boat which was clearly faster overall than any challenger during the 36th America’s Cup. The addition of Nathan Outterridge as co-helm with Peter Burling is a great get. The team have few weaknesses and appear to be leading the way with their design, especially in the all-important foils.

2. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli : As always, the Italians have produced a beautiful design focused on all-around performance. Their experience with a strong combination of America’s Cup veterans means they will be competitive and I expect them to be one of the top two challengers.

3. NYYC American Magic : The most innovative and radical design – the Americans have chased a breakthrough with the lowest volume/drag hull design and a focus on centralising crew weight. Their co-helms Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison are top-notch and I would not be surprised if the American boat is very quick in certain conditions.

4. INEOS Britannia : In contrast to the American boat, Britain’s Britannia has a “robust” design focused on more hull volume and an ability to push hard in any sea state. Their most interesting feature involves moving their rudder and elevator located forward from the stern which has the advantage of reducing weight in the back end. This, potentially, puts focus on using the rudder elevator to drive more power into the entire set-up. Greater hull volume equals greater buoyancy, which is good for big seas and take-off on to the foils. The overall trade-off is increased drag. I expect the Brits to be close with the Americans despite their contrasting designs.

5. Orient Express Racing : The new French outfit was the last to enter this 37th America’s Cup and the last to launch their new AC75 and as a result they have the least experience in these boats. Their advantage is having the ETNZ basic design package, so they will be competitive at times. I expect them to win a few races but their lack of experience in these boats at this level will tell.

6. Alinghi Red Bull Racing : It is extremely difficult for a new team to catch-up with established operations already progressing in a design development race. Breaking their mast 48 hours out from this preliminary regatta is a major set-back, no matter how they try to spin it. I expect the Swiss team to have their moments – but they will be chasing rather than leading.

Professor Mark Orams has raced in a winning crew in the Whitbread Round the World Race, was a member of Team New Zealand 2000 working alongside Sir Peter Blake and worked as an onboard scientific advisor for Sir Peter’s conservation endeavours with Blakexpeditions. He is now the Deputy Vice Chancellor Research at AUT.

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