La Roche-Posay Racing Team finishes fourth in Cagliari
by La Roche-Posay Racing Team 25 May 11:02 PDT
21-24 May 2026
La Roche-Posay Racing Team - Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup Preliminary Regatta Sardinia © Nicolas Touzé / La Roche-Posay Racing Team
Fourth after the eight fleet races of the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup Preliminary Regatta Sardinia, the French team concluded its first official competition in the AC40 class with a remarkable improvement. The competition was won by the local team Luna Rossa, who were victorious in the match-race final against Emirates Team New Zealand.
On its first official appearance in the 38th America's Cup cycle, La Roche-Posay Racing Team leaves Sardinia with an encouraging result and valuable experience to build on. After the eight fleet races of the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup Preliminary Regatta Sardinia, held in the waters of the Bay of Angels, the French team finished 4th, with 55 points, just four points shy of the podium.
This first preliminary regatta, sailed aboard identical AC40s, offered an honest assessment of the fleet's level. In this short, spectacular, and unforgiving format, the crew of Quentin Delapierre, Diego Botín, Jason Saunders, and Florian Trittel experienced a busy weekend: some impressive runs, areas for improvement, but also significant progress right up to the final races.
La Roche-Posay Racing Team had its best day in lighter conditions on Sunday, finishing the last two races at the front: 3rd and then 2nd. A solid end to the regatta gives this initial assessment a positive tone, without hiding the need for further work.
Cagliari, a first real-world test
This regatta didn't count towards the 2027 America's Cup standings. Yet, it held crucial value: confronting the teams with the reality of the racecourse, measuring their execution, and testing their teamwork under intense competition.
For La Roche-Posay Racing Team, which had honed its skills during training in Lorient, Cagliari represented a significant leap forward. The fleet, the starts, the crossings, the high-speed decision making, and the immediate pressure of the racing provided a far more revealing environment than any isolated sailing sessions.
The first races highlighted several areas for improvement. Some starts proved costly, a few positioning choices prevented the team from fully exploiting its options, and some transitions will need to be more precise. In such a competitive series, these details are immediately punished: a delay of a few seconds, a constrained trajectory, a loss of speed during a manoeuver, and the gap widens. The strength of the French weekend, however, lay in the team's responsiveness. Race after race, the execution became more fluid. The final day in the fleet, concluding with a third and second place, illustrates that ability to correct mistakes within the event itself.
A fully mobilised onboard team - and shore team
Onboard, the crew organisation was based on two pairingss: Quentin Delapierre and Jason Saunders on the starboard side of the boat; Diego Botín and Florian Trittel on the port side. In this configuration, each pair only sees the part of the regatta on their side. Performance therefore depends on the ability to share the right information at the right time, to make decisions as a team of four, and to maintain constant coordination between steering, sail trim, course, and flight stability.
Cagliari provided the crew with their first comprehensive competitive experience. In the starting phases, crossings, manoeuvers under pressure, and changes of pace, the French team was able to test the strategies they had developed since the spring in a race environment. This initial phase revealed areas for improvement, but also a genuine ability to adapt as the event unfolded.
The improvement observed over the three days was the result of a collective effort that extended far beyond the four sailors on board. Under the leadership of Philippe Presti, sports director, and coach Philippe Mourniac, the shore team supported every stage of the preparation, debriefings, and analysis.
Alongside performance manager Lucas Delcourt and his team, the reserve athletes in Cagliari, Enzo Balanger and Timothé Lapauw, were also fully involved in performance monitoring, navigation analysis and providing daily support to the crew.
Quentin Delapierre, skipper and driver of La Roche-Posay Racing Team: "This regatta was a first challenge for all parts of the team: the sailors, performance, shore crew, technical team, and organisation. We ticked a lot of boxes, and that boosts confidence throughout the group. It's a very good thing for the future.
From a sporting perspective, there were many good things, but also many mistakes. What's positive is our ability to remain objective, to question ourselves, and to correct them quickly. We rarely repeated the same mistake twice. Of course, we would have liked to go further in terms of performance, but for a first preliminary regatta with this group, the results are good."
A strong fleet, and valuable benchmarks already
Beyond the French result, this first regatta confirmed the strength of the field involved in the 38th America's Cup cycle. Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand held the top two positions after the fleet races, with 63 and 60 points respectively, before meeting in the match race final. The Italians ultimately prevailed over the New Zealand Defender, securing a benchmark victory in this first event of the cycle.
Another takeaway from the weekend was the performance of Luna Rossa Women & Youth. Very impressive at the start of the competition, the Italian crew demonstrated that the Women & Youth teams are not simply there to fill out the fleet but can fully compete at the front of the pack.
For La Roche-Posay Racing Team this provides a useful benchmark. It allows them to position the French project within a very demanding international environment. Cagliari does not provide a definitive hierarchy; however, it provides an initial basis for comparison to guide the work in the coming months.
Florian Trittel, La Roche-Posay Racing Team trimmer: "It's been a very positive weekend for La Roche-Posay Racing Team. We learned a great deal, with many points to address, but very useful lessons for the future. We knew we were going to make mistakes: the important thing was to be able to understand them, correct them, and improve day after day.
This progress isn't just reflected in the results, even if our fourth place fairly accurately reflects where we are today. We need to keep our heads up and remain very positive. Finishing higher would undoubtedly have been ambitious given the level of our competitors and our preparation time, but what's very encouraging is our learning curve. It's steep, perhaps faster than that of some teams, and we feel we're closing the gap."
A solid foundation before returning to AC75s
The rest of the program is already mapped out. The second preliminary regatta will be held from September 24 to 27, 2026, in Naples. Before then, the coming months will be dedicated to a major milestone in the campaign: sailing the AC75 in Lorient starting from the end of June and throughout the summer.
Sardinia will have given the La Roche-Posay Racing Team a clear first benchmark: an encouraging result, an organisation strengthened by experience, and a now more precise roadmap towards Naples 2027. For Philippe Presti, this first showdown has above all confirmed the upward trajectory embraced by the team.
Philippe Presti, Sports Director of the La Roche-Posay Racing Team: "It is a very good day for the team. We arrived at the event with the aim to improve every day, and a day like today confirms that we are moving in the right direction. With the scores achieved today, we would have been able to reach a final. It is therefore a real satisfaction.
The overall assessment is very positive. We are still a young team, both among the crew and across the structure as a whole. This was our first real showdown in competition. We need these moments where the team is put under pressure, where we have to adapt, react, and learn quickly. I am very satisfied, and even quite proud, of how the group responded. The members of this team are hungry; they are eager for redemption.
We made mistakes, but that is normal: you can't progress without making them. I would not change anything about our progress. Today, in this launch phase, we finish as the second challenger in the regatta. We will now put the AC40 aside and focus on the AC75, the America's Cup boat. There will be a lot of work in the simulator to ensure that when we go out on the water, the automatic responses are already well established. There will also be a second preliminary regatta in September in Naples."
La Roche-Posay Racing Team crew:
Quentin Delapierre — skipper
Diego Botín — skipper
Jason Saunders — trimmer
Florian Trittel — trimmer
Reserve athletes:
Enzo Balanger — skipper
Timothé Lapauw — trimmer