Emirates Team New Zealand have won a dramatically tough America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Jeddah presented by NEOM. Peter Burling, Nathan Outteridge, Blair Tuke and Andy Maloney were the dominant crew all week, winning five of the eight fleet races. But in the end that counted for nothing in the winner take all match race final, which the kiwi crew won the start of, before illustrating text book match race tactics, leading Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli around the course and taking the regatta after a spectacular nose dive from the Italians rounding the final mark putting an end to the race. Helmsm ..read more

The story of the day was Emirates Team New Zealand again being dominant winning two races, as well as second place which was enough to secure their place in tomorrow’s match race final with two fleet races yet to race at the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Jeddah presented by NEOM. In simultaneous fashion the breeze and the intensity ratcheted up significantly on Day 2 with some of the best racing seen in the AC40’s, recently named “boat of the year” at the World Sailing awards. In the fresh Northwest wind up to 16 knots, every metre gained was a metre lost by another boat with some of the c ..read more

Good morning from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on this the final day of the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Jeddah, presented by NEOM. © Ian Roman/America’s Cup After yesterday’s spectacle where the professional racing sailors of the America’s Cup put on a show of unparalleled excellence in 16 knots of breeze where they unleashed the awesome potential of the AC40, today we are promised more of the same. For the first time in the regatta, there are puffy clouds in the sky and the morning Academy regatta has seen some great racing just metres off the Jeddah foreshore in Laser dinghies and FarEast 28R ..read more

The opening press conference set the stage for intense rivalries leading up to the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta in Jeddah, presented by NEOM. With a diverse gathering of Saudi and international media, sailing heavyweights including Peter Burling, Sir Ben Ainslie, Arnaud Psarofaghis, Ruggero Tita, Paul Goodison, and Quentin Delapierre faced a barrage of questions. The resounding message was clear—each team is here not just to race but to emerge victorious. Ahead of the sailor’s presentation, the stage was taken by Samia Bagdady, the Chief Executive of the Saudi Sailing Federation who expla ..read more

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, continues to offer impeccable sailing conditions, showcasing blue skies, abundant sunshine, and a steady 14-17 knots of north to north-west airflow—the prevailing wind direction in the region during this season. The Red Sea presented a slightly challenging sea-state with bumpy conditions featuring local waves up to 1.2 meters and an underlying swell off the Jeddah Corniche, creating rolling swells measuring 1.2 to 1.4 meters. © Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup With the forecast, four of the America’s Cup teams elected to stay ashore for what was essentially a day for the rac ..read more

Emirates Team New Zealand is geared up and prepared for racing in Jeddah at the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta following a successful inaugural sailing session on the Red Sea. The team took to the waters in a 13-15 knot northwest breeze, fine-tuning their skills and equipment for the upcoming regatta. The shore crews have been busy for the past week, setting up the team base and putting the team’s AC40 One Design ‘Te Kakahi’ back into race mode in the Jeddah Yacht Club and Marina. The team is keen to improve on their second place in the first Preliminary Event in Vilanova, Spain, after the ..read more

As the sun rises over Jeddah, a new dawn in America’s Cup sailing is breaking with the confirmation that Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli have handed the wheels of their AC40, and the expectation of a nation, to the next generation of foiling superstars. Ruggero Tita and Marco Gradoni, two of the brightest lights not only of Italian sailing but world sailing too, are the nominated helms for the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Jeddah, presented by NEOM. It’s a giant step for ‘Rugi’ and Marco into the big league of international sailing but it’s simply no surprise as these two outstanding sailors hav ..read more

The Jeddah Corniche racecourse area was a busy waterway yesterday afternoon with Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Orient Express Racing Team and the Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia all putting in a super-long stint ahead of the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta, presented by NEOM, starting in earnest next week. Shoreside it’s a hive of activity with the temporary tent bases preparing the AC40s of Emirates Team New Zealand, NYYC American Magic and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and with a forecast for swell and winds, it has all the hallmarks of being a classic high-stakes regatta. The thing that strik ..read more

The next generation of potential Emirates Team New Zealand sailors, have spent a week under the spotlight at the team base in Auckland, as part of the selection process for the 2024 Youth America’s Cup team. The squad of eight Youth Emirates Team New Zealand hopefuls undertook a busy four day schedule embarking on a steep learning curve encompassing the technical systems and software required to sail the AC40 as well as race training and simulation on the Emirates Team New Zealand simulator. The eight trialling sailors at the base is an impressive line-up of world and national champions acros ..read more

Following their strong showing at the first America’s Cup preliminary regatta in Vilanova i la Geltrú in September the Orient Express Racing Team are hoping for a repeat performance in Jeddah next week although the team remains realistic about results considering the amount of time the sailors have had onboard the AC40. The French challenger for the 2024 America’s Cup proved a surprise package with their new AC40 foiling race boat in Vilanova, Spain, in the summer when they claimed a third-place podium finish on their debut competitive outing after only 12 days with the yacht. Now relocated t ..read more