Preliminary Regattas of the 38th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup: The Road to Naples

There are sporting competitions, like the Canadian Grand Prix taking place this weekend in Montreal, and then there is the America’s Cup. This is not a matter of condescendance toward other disciplines — it is simply a reality of a different nature. Since 1851, this uninterrupted competition — the oldest continuously held sporting event in the world — has never truly belonged to the ordinary register of sport. It is the business of nations that commit to it the way others commit to politics: with staggering budgets, strategic alliances, rivalries passed down from one edition to the next, and a technological obsession that regularly places competitive sailing at the forefront of global engineering. Now, it’s serious : the preliminary regattas for the 38th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup have commenced, and the road for the Cup is now underway.

The 38th edition, under the aegis of Louis Vuitton, will be no exception. And it begins right now — not in Naples, where the main event will be held in 2027, but on the Mediterranean waters of a resplendent Sardinia and, later in the year, in the legendary bay of Naples itself. What insiders call the “Road to Naples” is already under way.

A Competition Like No Other

To understand why the preliminary regattas of the 38th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup deserve attention, one must first grasp what this competition has become over recent cycles. The America’s Cup was long perceived as an esoteric affair reserved for initiates — offshore races whose tactical subtleties escaped the general public. Then came the foil revolution.

Since the 35th edition in Bermuda in 2017, Cup yachts literally fly. Perched on hydrofoils (foils) that lift them above the surface, they reach speeds that defy comprehension: over 50 knots for the large AC75s of the last Barcelona edition — nearly 95 kilometres per hour on water. Any comparison with actual wind speed — often three or four times slower than the boats themselves — now belongs to the past. These machines are the Formula 1 cars of the sea, designed by teams of aeronautical engineers, fluid dynamics specialists, and brilliant designers — all in the service of a handful of elite sailors capable of mastering them.

The 37th edition in Barcelona, won once again by Emirates Team New Zealand against the challengers, cemented this new paradigm. The fleet races of the preliminary regattas in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Jeddah, and Barcelona captured a worldwide audience: fast, closely contested, and visually spectacular, they demonstrated that top-level sailing could rival any motorsport in dramatic intensity.

The 38th edition promises to push the spectacle even further. And the 2026 preliminary regattas — in Sardinia first, then Naples — are its first concrete manifestation.

The AC40s: Lightning Machines

For these preliminary regattas, the teams compete on AC40s — fully standardised one-design yachts built as the younger siblings of the AC75s that will dominate the grand Naples 2027 showdown. The standardisation is total: every team receives the same boat, with no modifications permitted to the hull or appendages. Any advantage can only come from sailing, tuning, and tactical decisions made on the fly.

This detail changes everything when reading the results. When a crew pulls ahead of its rivals on AC40s, it is pure talent at work — not the technological superiority of a better-funded design office. This is precisely what makes these preliminary regattas so revealing for those wishing to anticipate the 2027 hierarchy.

These ten-metre yachts, capable of exceeding 40 knots on their foils, carry four crew members: two helmsmen and two trimmers. At these speeds, the slightest trim disagreement or hesitation through a tack can cost several boat lengths in a matter of seconds. The teams that excel on the AC40s develop a form of collective telepathy that even the world’s best coaches have yet to fully formalise into training protocols.

The regatta format is worthy of the machine. Up to eight fleet races — spread over three days — establish a preliminary ranking. The top two teams then meet in a head-to-head match race — the ultimate duel where every tactical decision can tip the result. No points will carry over to the 2027 Louis Vuitton Cup, but the psychological momentum is being built right now. A win in Sardinia or Naples at the preliminary stage sends a powerful signal to rivals — and to one’s own crew.

A notable feature of this 38th cycle: each team may enter a second AC40 crewed exclusively by members of their Youth and Women’s programmes. Nearly all teams are expected to take advantage of this opportunity, reflecting a genuine commitment to developing the next generation of world-class sailors. For these young competitors, racing alongside the world’s finest crews on the same water, under the same conditions, represents an unparalleled formative experience.

Preliminary regattas of the 38th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup: The Teams in Contention

Eight teams are competing in this first preliminary regatta, each with its own history, ambitions, and particular relationship with the America’s Cup.

• Emirates Team New Zealand
• Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth

• GB1
• Athena Pathway: Women & Youth Team

• Luna Rossa 2: Senior Team
• Luna Rossa 1: Women & Youth Team

• Tudor Team Alinghi

• La Roche-Posay Racing Team

Emirates Team New Zealand is the Defender — the reigning champion.

The New Zealanders embody the modern dominance of the Cup: they have won three of the last four editions, and their culture of technological innovation is unmatched on the circuit. Racing against “ETNZ,” as they are known in sailing circles, means facing an organisation that has lived and breathed the America’s Cup for decades. They arrive in Sardinia with the quiet serenity of champions — and the sharp eye of those who know exactly what they are looking to assess in their future opponents.

GB1

The official Challenger of Record for the 38th edition, GB1 represents Great Britain in this campaign. Discreet but rigorous, the organisation cultivates a methodical approach that echoes the finest traditions of British sailing. Difficult to read ahead of racing, GB1 — previously known as INEOS Britannia — is among the teams whose true level will only be revealed on the water.

Luna Rossa

The Challenger of Record for the 37th edition and the natural challenger on these Mediterranean waters. The Italian team, backed by Prada, embodies the elegance and rigour that define the circuit’s finest organisations. In Sardinia, Luna Rossa sails on home waters — the team has trained intensively here, learning every subtlety of the Bay of Cagliari. Before a crowd already won over, the pressure is both fuel and risk. The Italians will want to shine.

Tudor Team Alinghi

One cannot help but admire an organisation flying the Swiss flag — a charming paradox for a landlocked nation — with the backing of watchmaker Tudor. The Swiss team has a rich history with the America’s Cup, having won the 2003 edition in Auckland and defended the title in 2007 in Valencia. The partnership with Tudor gives the team a compelling identity, at the intersection of watchmaking precision and sporting performance — a pairing that Gentologie readers will appreciate at its true worth.

La Roche-Posay Racing Team

France rounds out the field for this first preliminary regatta, bringing with it one of the most unexpected partnerships on the circuit: a clinical skincare brand in the world of elite sailing. Beyond the novelty, this is a serious team, determined to carve out a place in the Cup’s hierarchy.

Emirates Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa, and GB1 will each field two AC40s in Sardinia — their senior crew and their Youth and Women’s programme — bringing the fleet to eight yachts on the start line. Tudor Team Alinghi and La Roche-Posay Racing Team will send only one team to this first regatta.

The field promises to be even deeper as the season progresses. Two new teams, announced in April and May 2026 respectively, will certainly join the circuit for upcoming preliminary regattas.

Team Australia

The sailing kangaroos make a long-awaited return — Australia’s last Cup appearance dating back to 2000. Tom Slingsby, Olympic gold medallist and two-time World Sailor of the Year, will take the helm, supported by Glenn Ashby — three-time Cup winner — as Head of Performance. Behind them, Grant Simmer — one of the architects of the legendary Australia II campaign of 1983 — leads the team. A management group steeped in history.

American Racing Challenger Team USA

The team embodies a return no one wanted to go without: had it not materialised, Naples 2027 would have been the first edition in the Cup’s entire history without an American team. Backed by entrepreneurs Karel Komárek and Chris Welch and representing Sail Newport, the team built on the assets of American Magic — including the AC75 Patriot — and places its leadership in the hands of Ken Read, a two-time Rolex Yachtsman of the Year. America is back.

Cagliari, May 2026: Sardinia Opens the Ball

The first preliminary regatta is being held in the Bay of Cagliari from May 21 to 24, 2026, and it would be difficult to imagine a more striking setting in which to open a new America’s Cup cycle. Cagliari is not a city that reveals itself immediately — it must be earned, like all great Mediterranean destinations. One must look up toward its perched bastions, wander through the Castello quarter, and pause at the Bastione di Santa Croce at sunset to understand why the Sardinians speak of their capital with a pride that is anything but manufactured.

The Bay of Cagliari, for its part, is a school of seamanship. Sheltered yet open to the steady offshore winds, it offers conditions that test crews’ ability to adapt quickly — a decisive factor in fleet races where standings can be upended with every shift in breeze. For a crew seeking to test its reflexes on the AC40, it is an ideal proving ground.

On a cultural and gastronomic level, Cagliari offers teams and visitors a glimpse of Sardinia at its most authentic. Sardinian cuisine — spit-roasted porceddu, saffron-laced malloreddus, cave-aged pecorino — is one of Italy’s great regional traditions, too often overshadowed by its mainland neighbours. The region’s wines, notably the Cannonau and Vermentino di Sardegna, are worth the journey in their own right. Sardinia is, in many respects, an Italy before Italy — a Nuragic civilisation thousands of years old that absorbed Phoenicians, Romans, Pisans, and Aragonese without ever losing its own character.

Naples, September 2026: A Taste of History

From September 24 to 27, 2026, Naples will enter the effervescence of the America’s Cup with the second preliminary regatta of the year. The symbolism is powerful: for the first time, the teams will sail in the bay that will serve as their main arena in 2027 — a unique opportunity to read local conditions, identify favoured wind lanes, and grow familiar with Vesuvius as a visual landmark during racing.

Naples is a city that overflows. It overflows with noise, history, magnificent contradictions, and raw beauty. It is the city of Caravaggio and Maradona, of marinara pizza and Neapolitan baroque, of the Spaccanapoli that cleaves the city in two like a sabre stroke, and of the lanes of the Quartiere Spagnoli where one could spend hours doing nothing but watching the world go by. It is also the city that watches Vesuvius with a familiarity tinged with elegant fatalism — a relationship with time and impermanence that the finest sailing crews would understand instinctively.

For the 38th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup, Naples will write an unprecedented chapter: the first edition ever held in Italy in the competition’s entire history. Since 1851, the Cup has sailed from New York to Cowes, from Sydney to Auckland, from Valencia to San Francisco, from Bermuda to Barcelona — but never before had it set its foils on Italian waters. In September 2026, the preliminary regatta will serve as a prologue to that historic moment: teams finding their footing, the city growing into its new role, and sharp observers taking their first notes on what Naples holds in store as a racing venue.

Why Pay Attention

The America’s Cup preliminary regattas are not secondary events to be glanced at in the next day’s sports results. They are windows onto the future hierarchy — and spectacles in their own right. Watching eight AC40s in a fleet race, flying at over 40 knots in a Mediterranean harbour, is a visual experience that has no real equivalent in world sport.

For the gentleman who travels wisely, Cagliari in May — perhaps a touch late now — or Naples in September 2026 represent rare occasions: witnessing a founding moment of the world’s greatest sailing competition, in two of the Mediterranean’s most beautiful cities, before the 2027 final transforms Naples into an unmissable destination — and an inevitably overcrowded one.

The Road to Naples is under way. And as always with the America’s Cup, the journey matters as much as the destination. It is also worth noting that OMEGA will once again serve as the official timekeeper of this 38th edition.

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