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Sailing News for May 01, 2026

Racing stayed on a knife edge in Sardinia as Team Nika scraped out a win at the 44Cup Puntaldia after a final day where positions flipped constantly, while GeMera Racing quietly came away with the overall series lead by playing the long game. Meanwhile in Hyères, the Olympic circuit is starting to show clearer form lines, with Jordi Xammar and Marta Cardona backing up their Palma win with another controlled victory to cement themselves as the team to beat, while standout performers like Lauriane Nolot and Max Maeder continued their early-season dominance across classes. It’s a contrast of styles, tight, chaotic fleet racing versus measured consistency at the top, but both are delivering results. Away from the racecourse, boats like the Storm 22 show there’s still strong appeal in simple, versatile designs that blend performance with practicality. Across the board, the message is clear, whether you’re winning by inches or building momentum over weeks, consistency is doing the heavy lifting right now.

Inshore & Offshore Racing

Francesca Clapcich to start first solo IMOCA race in the 1000 Race on Sunday (3 min read)
Francesca Clapcich is about to hit a big personal milestone: her first solo IMOCA race, and the Bay of Biscay is not exactly rolling out the welcome mat. The 1000 Race sends seven solo skippers on a 1,000-nautical-mile loop from Port-la-Forêt to Fastnet Rock, down toward Spain and Portugal, then back to Concarneau. For Clapcich and 11th Hour Racing, the brief is refreshingly honest: sail smart, avoid chaos, and bring skipper and boat home in one piece. Andiamo, indeed.

Money well spent for US Navy (1 min read)
The U.S. Navy apparently isn’t just building ships, it’s building regatta winners too. At the 2026 Naval Academies Regatta in Livorno, Italy, the American team topped 33 nations in the one-design Trident 16 class, with Italy second and China third. The winning mix of dinghy and offshore talent made it a proper academy flex, not just a sail-around. Global naval bragging rights, secured with sheets trimmed and egos politely dented.

Past champions set the pace at Congressional Cup (3 min read)
The Crimson Blazer fight is getting spicy at Long Beach, with three past Congressional Cup winners muscling their way to the top. Chris Poole is still bossing the leaderboard at 11-1, but defending champ Eric Monnin and 2009 winner Johnie Berntsson are lurking at 9-3, which is basically match racing code for “don’t blink.” Poole even pulled off a last-second penalty escape against Oscar Engström, because apparently drama is part of the uniform. Semi-final spots are now very much on the line.

Youth Sailing/Development

KISS 2026 launched – Watch what happens! (3 min read)
ORCV’s KISS 2026 program is off and running, with 43 women joining 12 keelboat teams for a 14-week crash course in going from “happy passenger” to useful, confident crew. The fleet spans Melbourne clubs and Gippsland Lakes, with a strong mix of novices, late starters, mentors, and boat owners all getting stuck in. Workshops, on-water training, weather, nav, safety, and passage planning are all on the menu. The finale is a 26nm rally to Queenscliff, which sounds like a graduation with better scenery.

Tech & Gear

How one skipper fixed his fuel problems with a diesel day tank (9 min read)
After Namika’s engine quit in a rolling swell near the Peloponnese, Richard Thomson traced the drama to a delightful cocktail of slime, sludge, and grit blocking the fuel system. Instead of trusting one big old tank and hoping for the best, he fitted a 31-litre diesel day tank with extra filtration, a gauge, and enough clean fuel for 10 to 15 hours of motoring. It’s not glamorous, but neither is calling the coastguard because your diesel turned into soup.

Sailing Highlight of the Day

AC38 is already getting spicy, and Naples 2027 suddenly feels uncomfortably close. The Foil crew digs into Paul Goodison taking the skipper role at Alinghi, Giles Scott becoming sailing director at American Racing Challenger Team USA, and the design alliances forming as budget caps start to bite. The big eyebrow-raiser: America’s Cup media appears to have accidentally confirmed Australia as the seventh challenger, then quietly scrubbed it. Classic Cup behavior, really. Legal fog, secret slips, and design-room chess all included.