ARC Team USA names its initial team lineup, Safe Harbor Race Weekend and Morgan Cup news
by David Schmidt 11 Aug 08:00 PDT
August 11, 2026
ARC Team USA sailing squad - from the left: Hans Henken, Lucas Calabrese, Louisa Nordstrom, Harry Melges IV, Michael Menninger, Riley Gibbs - August 2026 © ARC
Given all the great sailing that's set to unfurl between now and next July, it's understandable if the 38th America's Cup isn't dominating your attention span just yet. That said, yesterday's announcement from American Racing Challenger Team USA listing their preliminary sailing team roster will likely start to move the Auld Mug a few clicks higher on your awareness radar, as the American-flagged challenger is stacked with Cup veterans, Olympians, SailGP athletes, and world championship winners.
The American Racing Challenger Team USA (ARC Team USA) is a start-up challenger that's representing Sail Newport and is being led by Karel Komárek (co-founder and chairman) and Chris Welch (co-founder and VC), alongside Ken Read (CEO), and Giles Scott (sailing director).
While the team's leadership has been known for some time, yesterday, the team officially announced the names of six sailors—Lucas Calabrase, Riley Gibbs, Hans Henken, Harry Melges IV, Michael Menninger, and Louisa Nordstrom—who will comprise ARC Team USA's initial roster.
"This group represents exactly what we're trying to build," said Read in an official team communication. "They bring world-class experience, proven performance at the highest levels of our sport and the potential to help shape the future of American sailing. As we continue to build our challenge, we're committed to creating opportunities for the next generation of talent and establishing a program that can compete at the highest level for years to come.
"Each of these sailors has demonstrated not only exceptional ability on the water, but also the versatility, work ethic and mindset required to help build something bigger than a single campaign," Read continued.
The team's first official challenge will be the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup Preliminary Regatta, which will unfurl on the waters off of Naples, Italy, from September 24-27, and which will be contested in AC40 foiling monohulls. (N.B., this event is the second of two preliminary regattas, the first of which took place in Sardinia last May.)
From there, ARC Team USA and five other challengers will turn their focus to the Louis Vuitton Cup, which starts next spring, and which serves as the challenger selection series.
The winner of this regatta will foil on to meet Emirates Team New Zealand on the starting line of the Louis Vuitton 38h America's Cup, which is set to start on July 10, 2027.
Sail-World wishes ARC Team USA good luck as they practice and prepare for September's preliminary regatta, and for next spring's Louis Vuitton Cup.
Meanwhile, this weekend saw great handicap and one design racing unfurl on the waters off of Newport, Rhode Island, where the Safe Harbor Race Weekend (August 7-9) recently concluded.
While competition levels were reportedly fierce amongst all classes, the 18-strong IC37 fleet featured some big names racing aboard identical platforms. After seven races, Steve Liebel's New Wave proved to be the fastest gun, followed by Carter Robertson's Shaman and Peter Wagner's Skeleton Key.
Newport was also the site of the New York Yacht Club's Morgan Cup Team Race (August 7-9), which saw the host club win this high-level team-raving event for the first time since 2015.
"It's fantastic," said NYYC team captain Pete Levesque in an event communication. "It's been a long time since New York has won, so it feels really good to have this group of sailors experience that."
The NYYC's winning team was joined on the podium by teams from the Larchmont Yacht Club and the Corinthean Yacht Club of Marblehead.
Finally, for fans of adventure racing, readers are reminded that the 2026 Golden Globe Race is set to start on September 6 on the waters off of Les Sables-d'Olonne, France.
As of this writing, five skippers—Guy deBoer, Matt Woodside, Gunnar Christensen, and Colm Walker—will be representing the Stars and Stripes in this solo nonstop-around-the-world retro race.
The boats may be old, and the technologies might be analog, but you can bet your last roll of duct tape that this race will feature some great seamanship as the GGR fleets wends its way around our lonely planet via the three great capes.
May the four winds blow you safely home.
David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor