America's Cup Preliminary Regatta Sardinia officially under way in Cagliari
by Emirates Team New Zealand 21 May 05:12 PDT
22 May 2026
Practice race - Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup - Preliminary Regatta Sardinia - May 21, 2026 © Ian Roman
Eight AC40s, five teams, and the first racing benchmark on the Road to Naples 2027.
Today's opening Press Conference marked the formal beginning of the first Preliminary Regatta of the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup cycle, with the focus now firmly shifting from preparation to competition in Cagliari.
It's time to race, and from tomorrow, the points will start to count after two days of practice racing: the Preliminary Regatta Sardinia is officially under way. Set against the backdrop of Sardinia's Gulf of Angels, in Cagliari, the event brings together eight AC40s across five teams for the first time in this edition of the America's Cup.
In a significant step forward for the event, teams have the opportunity to simultaneously field two teams, a senior crew alongside a second boat sailed by Women's and Youth sailors. Alongside GB1 and Athena Pathway (GBR) as well as Luna Rossa (ITA), Emirates Team New Zealand will compete with two boats, emphasising the role of the Women's and Youth crew as an integral part of the entire sailing team.
For Emirates Team New Zealand, Nathan Outteridge will skipper and helm the starboard side of the senior team with Seb Menzies on the port helm, along with Iain Jensen on port trim, and Andy Maloney as starboard trimmer.
For the Women's & Youth team, Jake Pye is skipper and port side helm, Erica Dawson is starboard helm, with Josh Armit on starboard trim and Serena Woodall on port side. The format provides a unique opportunity for younger sailors to gain direct race experience alongside some of the most established names in the sport, all within the pressure and intensity of an America's Cup regatta environment.
The packed opening Press Conference brought together local and global media with the sailors, team representatives, and event officials ahead of the first official racing sessions this afternoon. Along with the eight sailors racing in Cagliari this week, Tom Slingsby of Team Australia Challenge and Ken Read of American Racing Challenger were presented as the respective 6th and 7th teams entered in the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup. While the atmosphere remained relaxed off stage, there was a clear sense that the competitive focus has now fully arrived in Cagliari.
Speaking ahead of the regatta, Nathan Outteridge acknowledged both the excitement and the challenge of returning to fleet racing in the AC40s. "It's really exciting. It's been a while since there's been an America's Cup event and to be here lined up in the AC40s is an important step for all the teams. The America's Cup is ultimately to be sailed on the AC75s which is also about a design competition.
This week, it is about racing and putting the new sailing teams together for most of these teams. We've got a really exciting lineup. Seb Menzies, who joined our campaign and just won a 49er World Championship. It has been awesome to be sailing with him this week. We are really excited to be racing. As the Defender, we really just want to get involved by sailing with the Challengers right now. To see where we stack up and work out how we can keep improving."
Sitting alongside his old team mate Peter Burling, Outteridge explained his long history with Burling as both his competition and as a team mate, and looking forward to resuming competition against him, "It's been a few years sitting side-by-side like this in a lot of meetings and now you are against each other. But Pete and I have had a great relationship over the last 15 years. Whether we were training together, competing against each other, working together, and we are racing against each other again. This is really cool."
For Erica Dawson and the Women's and Youth crew, the event marks another significant step in the rapidly evolving development pathway created within Emirates Team New Zealand. Erica brings Olympic medal foiling talent to the team as well as previous AC40 fleet racing experience when she was part of the Women's America's Cup team in Barcelona in 2024 during the 37th America's Cup.
"It's an incredible opportunity for us to get to race with these Cup teams and be involved with the real tight team within Emirates Team New Zealand. Our learning curve is just so steep at the moment for our Women's and Youth Team and every hour on the water, we are learning so much. We are really excited to go out racing, and if we sail well and take races off these teams, we'll be stoked," said Dawson.
When asked how the "in-house duel is going," Erica emphasised the tight-knit collaboration within Emirates Team New Zealand. "We are working really closely together and just trying to help each other the best we can. It is going really well," added Dawson.
Over the coming days, the eight-boat fleet will contest a series of high-intensity fleet races, with up to three fleet races scheduled on Friday and Saturday, and two fleet races on Sunday, before the leading teams advance to a final match race showdown. While the results themselves will not count towards the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup in 2027, the competitive significance of the event is already clear.