Both the America's Cup and the Louis Vuitton Cup trophies were on stage as the competing teams fronted the world's media in Sardinia, setting the tone for the opening regatta on the 'Road to Naples'. Confident words and barely concealed competitive intent filled the room as teams addressed a global audience across broadcast and multimedia channels.
Official Practice Racing got under way, building on three unofficial races sailed the previous day. A pecking order is already beginning to emerge, and the gloves are coming off.
Emirates Team New Zealand's senior crew made a strong impression in the breeze during those early outings. Skipper Nathan Outteridge reflected on what the sessions had revealed. "It was really good just to get a good training day against everyone," he said. "We haven't sailed the AC40s much lately. We've been on ships coming up here, so the other teams have had a bit more time in the boats of late, but it was good to get a good training day under the belt. The first time we've sailed with that four-person configuration was pretty much yesterday and the boat seemed to be going pretty well. I think what we learnt is that it's super tight. It's all about accuracy and sailing on the shifts and you learn that you've got to race the boat well. It's not just about trying to hammer it boundary to boundary. You've got to tack on the right shifts."
Women and Youth teams racing alongside the principal sailors is one of the defining stories of the regatta, with Emirates Team New Zealand, GB1, and Luna Rossa all fielding entries. Hannah Mills OBE is skippering the Athena Pathway team this weekend and spoke about the energy surrounding the programme. "Everyone's feeling like there's whole new energy," she said. "Obviously, with the investment from Oakley Capital coming in and the new identity, and then for Athena Pathway, we've got really strong support from our sponsors to carry on. So, I think everyone feels like we're in a good place. We're in a fresh place. And the AC40s are such amazing boats to get racing around, and we're very fortunate to have two boats to race against each other."
Helming for Emirates Team New Zealand alongside skipper Jake Pye, Erica Dawson made no secret of her ambitions heading into the competition. "Super excited, it's just an amazing opportunity to be going up against these sailors who have been my heroes in established cup teams," she said. "That's a pretty unreal opportunity. Obviously, everyone back home is just so supportive, and it's so cool to share these stories with the young girls who are just starting their sailing journey. To be able to give them something to look up to is pretty cool. We're only really just coming together for the first time now but it's just a great bunch of people, and we've all just got such a big learning curve that we're just giving it everything. Who knows where we'll end up?"
The performance drawing the most attention from the unofficial racing came from GB1, the Challenger of Record, who showed real pace with Dylan Fletcher and Ben Cornish steering. Fletcher was in no mood to temper expectations at the press conference. "We're definitely aiming for the top step of the podium," he said. "You always want to stand on the top step, don't you? We're all sailors and racers at heart. I think that we're going to be pleasantly surprised with where we are stacking up against the other teams."
Tudor Team Alinghi, under skipper Paul Goodison, arrive as a fresh outfit carrying considerable talent, and Goodison welcomed the chance to measure his crew against more established opposition. "We have such a great atmosphere amongst the team, but it's the first time we're really getting put under the pressure this week," he said. "We saw yesterday when we were out there racing, we're just learning how each of us reacts and how we work together. I think it's an incredible opportunity for us to test ourselves against these probably a little bit more established teams, but we're excited to go racing. We're excited to learn more overall what we're really made of."
Home favourite Luna Rossa brought both skipper Peter Burling and Youth America's Cup winner Marco Gradoni to the stage, with Gradoni laying out his objectives plainly. "We will give our best to be in the top two," he said. "It's not going to be easy, but I think it's not going to be easy for no one. I'm not surprised about the speed of anyone. I think they're super-fast. They're super strong teams. It's going to be a mental game till the end. Team Luna Rossa is certainly a tough opponent to beat; I think everyone knows that, and we just have to prove it over the next few days. Our goal is to bring the trophy home at the end of these three days. It will be extremely difficult, but we'll head out on the water every day with that goal in mind."
The trophy Marco referred to is a creation by Sardinian sculptor Roberto Ziranu, which sat alongside the America's Cup and the Louis Vuitton Cup on stage during the press conference. Crafted from a base of juniper gathered in the mountains of Ogliastra, with forged sails tinted by flames, it is an outstanding prize for whoever claims victory in the match-race final on Sunday.
La Roche-Posay Racing Team, led by Quentin Delapierre, are among those with that trophy squarely in their sights, and many are tipping the team to perform strongly this weekend. Delapierre spoke with measured ambition. "The America's Cup is a really tough trophy to win," he said. "This is why it's famous, and this is our vision. We are building this team with really good sponsors, huge support, and I think here in Cagliari with Jason and Flo and Diego, we can win this, but we also can make huge mistakes. It's just making sure we sail well, our process are good, and we're not putting too much pressure on winning this one."
Two teams entered for the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup were also represented on stage, though their late-entry status means neither will be on the starting line here in Sardinia. Both were spoken for by genuine legends of the sport.
Tom Slingsby, a past America's Cup winner and Head of Sailing for Team Australia, spoke with real passion about what the campaign represents for his country. "It's so exciting for our country, for all the sailors who grew up in my generation who have been wanting to see this happen again," he said. "It's a really important and exciting time for us. 1983 for sailing as a sport in Australia was just the biggest moment we've had. And even as a country, for sporting moments that impact a country, 1983 was probably our biggest sporting moment ever. And to think it came from sailing is unbelievable. We've grown up hearing about the legacy of that and wanting to recreate that, and as an athlete, I think there's nothing more you could want to do than sort of stop a nation and create a moment where everyone goes, 'Where were you when Australia won the America's Cup?' As an athlete, that's why we compete, and we've now got the opportunity to do that again."
Ken Read, a former America's Cup sailor and commentator, has taken on the role of CEO at American Racing Challenger Team USA, and he spoke with evident enthusiasm about the road ahead. "This is about welcoming a new generation of sailors, hopefully from America, into the America's Cup with us thinking the long haul," he said. "Not just one year from now, but thinking to the future, and yeah, really exciting time, actually, for our team. And I think a kind of a relief for sailing in America because for a while there it didn't look like this might happen. So, thanks to our principals, last minute, literally 24 hours from the deadline of entering, our entry went in, so we are a fresh and new participant."
Tonight, at the Bastione di San Remy, high on the hills overlooking Cagliari, the Opening Ceremony will take place before a parade down through the town led by some 300 local dancers in full folk costume, all the way to the Race Village. There the ribbon will be cut and the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup Preliminary Regatta, Sardinia, the first stop on the 'Road to Naples', will begin.
