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Sailing News for March 09, 2026

The next America’s Cup cycle is about to fire up with Emirates Team New Zealand expected to launch its updated AC75 in Auckland, reusing the Barcelona hull but packing major upgrades including electric power systems and lighter foils aimed at earlier lift and speeds beyond 55 knots. In Miami, the Bacardi Cup remains a heavyweight duel as Paul Cayard holds the overall lead but Robert Scheidt has snapped the win streak and is pressing hard with two days left. Cruising sailors get a double dose of inspiration with the lively Excess 13 cat showing that a practical cruising platform can still hit around nine knots under sail, while the remote Gambier Islands remind everyone that some of the best Pacific anchorages are still far from the usual yacht routes. For hands-on boat owners, a clear guide to marine electrics breaks down the basics from volts and amps to tracking down stubborn onboard faults, and the highlight of the day brings things back to pure performance with a blunt truth for dinghy sailors: if you want to go faster upwind, start by hiking harder than everyone else.

Sail GP/America’s Cup

America’s Cup: Emirates Team NZ expects to sail on Tuesday (3 min read)
Emirates Team New Zealand is about to splash its updated AC75 and begin sailing in Auckland this week, kicking off the first on-water testing of the 38th America’s Cup cycle. The boat still uses many Barcelona components but now features lighter weight and push-button control systems replacing the old manual setups. Early sailing will focus less on speed and more on crew training and system checks, since most of the new squad has never sailed an AC75 before. With teams limited to just 45 sailing days, every session on the Hauraki Gulf suddenly matters.

Inshore & Offshore Racing

Stitelmann takes the 2025 Mini Globe Race crown (4 min read)
Swiss sailor Renaud Stitelmann has just won the Mini Globe Race after sailing a 19-foot plywood boat 24,000 miles solo around the planet. His tiny Globe 5.80, Capucinette, led almost the entire race from Antigua through Panama, Fiji, Cape Town, and back again. The key was relentless consistency: averaging 5.5 knots, changing sails constantly, and squeezing every mile out of the weather routing. Twelve months alone on a boat smaller than most people’s dinghy garage, and he still dominated the fleet. Pretty wild reminder that offshore racing doesn’t need a giant boat to be epic.

Olympic Class/Dinghy Sailing

World Sailing invites bids for the 2030–2031 World Sailing Championships (3 min read)
World Sailing has opened the bidding process for the 2030–2031 World Sailing Championships, the main Olympic qualifier for the Brisbane 2032 Games. Like the upcoming 2027 edition, the event may be split across two venues to make hosting easier and bring Olympic-class sailing to more regions. It’s the biggest regatta in Olympic sailing, gathering the world’s top sailors along with Para Inclusive classes. Cities have until April 2026 to signal interest, with full bids due in September.

Cruising

The Gambiers: French Polynesia’s Best-Kept Secret (7 min read)
Way out in the southeast corner of French Polynesia sits the Gambier Islands, a place so remote only a couple dozen cruising boats visit each year. Those who make the long passage find pearl farms, jungle hikes up Mount Duff, reef sharks cruising crystal lagoons, and anchorages that feel almost untouched. Life here moves slowly. The bakery sells out in minutes, the ATM might be broken, and the arrival of the supply ship is basically a town holiday. But between wild coffee, potluck feasts, and black pearls, cruisers quickly realize they’ve stumbled into one of the Pacific’s rare gems.

Sailing Highlight of the Day

Gitana Team just kicked off Season 4 of Flying Offshore, and it starts with the dramatic birth of their newest beast: the foiling trimaran Gitana 18 (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild). After three years of design and construction, the giant flying machine finally rolled out of the shed in Lorient and splashed for the first time. The boat pushes foiling tech even further with radical appendages, complex hydraulic systems, and a design aimed squarely at offshore speed records. Now the real work begins, figuring out how to make this monster reliable and ready for the Route du Rhum.