24 hours of sailing news in 5 minutes.

Sailing News for February 10, 2026

SailGP’s return to Auckland is shaping up as one of the must-see events of the season, with Kiwi Olympian Anna Willcox making the case that tight courses, foiling speed, and a waterfront festival atmosphere turn it into something closer to live motorsport than traditional sailing, while the America’s Cup machine fires back into motion with the first AC38 Preliminary Regatta landing in Cagliari this May and promising full-noise AC40 racing with nowhere to hide. Match racing fans can start circling the calendar as the first eight skippers are confirmed for the 2026 Congressional Cup, stacking experience, youth, and aggression into what already looks like a brutal Long Beach showdown. Cruising reality checks come courtesy of a £1 boat that somehow completed a solo Atlantic circuit, proving grit still beats budget, and the day closes with a tense light-air finale from Lanzarote as Peninsula Racing finally break through for a long-awaited 44Cup regatta win under maximum pressure.

Sail GP/America’s Cup

“You don’t want to miss it”: Why the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix is a must-do (4 min read)
Kiwi Olympian and sports reporter Anna Willcox says SailGP in Auckland is the rare event that hooks sailing fans and total newcomers alike. Foiling cats ripping past the waterfront, tight courses, big breeze, and zero downtime make it feel more like live motorsport than traditional sailing. Add packed grandstands and a full-on waterfront festival vibe, and she reckons it outdoes rugby for pure atmosphere. Translation: go now, think later.

All set for Cagliari and the first Preliminary Regatta of the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup (5 min read)
The road to Naples 2027 kicks off in style with the first Prelim Regatta of the 38th America’s Cup, landing in Cagliari this May. Expect full-noise AC40 fleet racing, tight courses right off the shoreline, and a winner-takes-all match race finale. Youth and Women’s crews will be mixed in alongside the main teams, which means upsets are very much on the table. Big venue, big pressure, zero hiding places.

Inshore & Offshore Racing

First eight entrants announced for the 2026 Congressional Cup (6 min read)
The Congressional Cup is loading up early, and the first eight names are a proper mix of killers and chaos agents. Defending champ Eric Monnin is back, along with match racing royalty Ian Williams and Johnie Berntsson, plus US heavy hitter Chris Poole chasing another title. Add in hungry younger skippers like Jeppe Borch, Cole Tapper, Ian Garreta, and breakout qualifier Christian Prendergast, and Long Beach is shaping up for another week of dialed-in, elbows-out match racing.

Cruising

6,000 miles solo in a £1 boat: lessons learned from an Atlantic Circuit (14 min read)
Max Liberson bought a blown-up Seadog 30 for £1, spent under £4,800 making it seaworthy, then casually knocked out an Atlantic circuit solo. Highlights include dozing off near reefs, a surprise tropic-bird stowaway, pilot whales in the dark, and fixing an exhaust with a melted plastic water bottle. He even broke toes, made a DIY “cast,” and accidentally cooked them. Cheap boat, big miles, very real lessons.

Sailing Highlight of the Day

Lanzarote served up the full light-air mind game: shifty, patchy, and three teams separated by basically a rounding error. Peninsula Racing kept their nerves (and their starts) together, covered Team Aqua when it mattered, and finally snapped an eight-year win drought with their first regatta title since 2017. Gamera led early, then slid down the scoreboard when the breeze went weird. Bonus plot twist: Peninsula’s sailing a loaner hull and still got it done.