The Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup and the on-water battle sprang back into action as Sardinia delivered classic Gulf of Angels conditions for the opening day: sunshine across Cagliari, a southerly breeze filling in from offshore at 15–20 knots, and a short Mediterranean chop building through the afternoon. Challenging AC40 conditions made manoeuvres and mark roundings increasingly difficult for sailors across the fleet: but dramatic and exciting for the large Race Village crowd.

Consistency was king today, single mistakes cost vital points across all three fleet races for so many of the teams. Technical precision, positioning, and consistency immediately became decisive factors in the tightly packed one-design fleet.

The day completed with one team on top: the local Luna Rossa Women & Youth team bursting out of the blocks proving the most consistent, with both Emirates Team New Zealand teams tied in second place on 20 points along with Tudor Team Alinghi and the Luna Rossa senior team.

RACE 1
The first official race began with the Luna Rossa Women & Youth team winning the start and controlling the opening phase of the race. The fleet immediately split across the racecourse and both Emirates Team New Zealand boats stayed tightly in contention through the first upwind leg.

The fleet remained incredibly compressed in the first windward leg before Nathan Outteridge and his team picked up a boat-on-boat penalty on the first tack, forcing the Kiwi crew to drop valuable distance.

As the breeze and chop built across the Gulf of Angels, the conditions became increasingly difficult for clean manoeuvres. The Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth team fought to hold their position well in the mid-fleet before dropping back following a difficult gybe, while Outteridge and crew steadily clawed back positions through strong tactical calls, good communication and clean handling through the final laps. Luna Rossa Women & Youth ultimately secured the opening race victory while Emirates Team New Zealand recovered strongly to fourth and the Women & Youth crossed the line in fifth.

RACE 2
Race 2 produced some of the tightest racing of the afternoon. Both Emirates Team New Zealand boats launched exceptionally well off the line, with Seb Menzies on the port helm nailing a brave and impressive port tack start to get their bow out front.

Emirates Team New Zealand rounded the first mark in the lead, chased closely by both Luna Rossa entries. The pressure intensified around the bottom gate where Emirates Team New Zealand and both Italian boats converged almost simultaneously in one of the closest manoeuvring moments of the regatta so far.

Emirates Team New Zealand defended aggressively against repeated attacks from the two Italian boats and engaged in a three-way match-race situation. Tight crosses and rapid tactical exchanges defined the second half of the race, with all three boats pushing hard through every manoeuvre, and giving nothing away.

Emirates Team New Zealand stayed composed through the final approach and executed the final gybe cleanly to secure the team’s first race win of the Preliminary Regatta Sardinia. The Women & Youth team continued a strong and consistent day with fourth place. Athena Pathway later capsized and retired before the finish.

After the win, Nathan Outteridge reflected on the close racing between the leading boats, highlighting both the intensity of the competition and the challenging conditions on the Gulf of Angels: “It is a full on race out here. It is challenging to sail the boat and it’s all about sailing nicely against the competition. Everyone onboard is doing a great job and it is fantastic sailing conditions out here.”

RACE 3
Race 3 opened with immediate challenges for some teams as Athena Pathway, the Luna Rossa senior team, and La Roche-Posay Racing Team were all called OCS at the start. Both Emirates Team New Zealand boats escaped cleanly. The fleet once again split across the course, with the Kiwi boats opting for opposite sides. Emirates Team New Zealand rounded the first windward mark in second place with the Women & Youth team close behind in fourth, heading for the opposite boundaries again.

By the third upwind leg, the racing had become increasingly physical and unstable, with constant tight crosses through the mid-fleet and difficult tacks in the growing chop. Emirates Team New Zealand managed the conditions well and extended their lead over Luna Rossa Women & Youth to roughly 100 metres heading into the final lap, while Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth climbed back into contention in fourth at Gate 5.

The final downwind leg, however, completely reshaped the outcome of the race and the structure of the leaderboard. After another difficult but well-executed top mark rounding, Emirates Team New Zealand charged into the final leg still leading before suffering a massive splashdown during a gybe shortly before the finish handing the advantage to Luna Rossa Women & Youth, who claimed their second race victory of the day. Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth secured another solid fourth-place finish, while Emirates Team New Zealand eventually crossed the line in eighth after the dramatic late setback.

A frustrating end to an exceptional race: “A tough way to end the day, but you got to look at the positives and we'll assess what happened and fix that,” says Seb Menzies after the race.

Erica Dawson, starboard helm of the Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth team acknowledged the tough conditions saying, “It ended up a pretty breezy, challenging day. In the last race we were getting around 18 to 20 knots. Our goal was to just keep things super simple and minimise manoeuvres. The boats are awesome. It's just really, really cool sailing.”

The opening day of official racing confirmed just how competitive the AC40 fleet will be throughout the Preliminary Regatta Sardinia. Across all three races, the margins remained exceptionally tight, with penalties, manoeuvres, and split-second tactical decisions repeatedly reshuffling the fleet.

Emirates Team New Zealand demonstrated strong pace throughout the afternoon, securing an important race victory and frequently pushing the fleet despite the difficult conditions and increasingly challenging sea state. The Emirates Team New Zealand Women & Youth crew also continued to build confidence and consistency, delivering three composed races in a very demanding fleet racing environment and delivering solid results across all races.

With the fleet now fully settled into regatta mode, attention turns to tomorrow’s racing as the second day with three more fleet races continues in Cagliari.