Cagliari bid farewell to the America's Cup fleet in a manner that will prove hard to shake. Sailors, officials and spectators departed Sardinia bound by a single shared hope: that the America's Cup finds its way back to this beautiful, generous corner of the Mediterranean before too long.
The warmth and commitment shown by the people of Cagliari throughout the regatta deserve genuine, heartfelt thanks. Equal gratitude belongs to the vast team of Volunteers who gave their own time so freely to keep what many are already calling the most memorable America's Cup Preliminary Regatta in living history running smoothly and with such obvious care.
Sardinia delivered exactly what the sport demands at its best: challenging, choppy water and oscillating winds that tested every crew to their limit. Three days of racing at the very highest level gave a global audience a vivid demonstration of just how compelling the America's Cup can be, a contest famously defined by the truth that there is no Second. Out on the water, an armada assembled around the race course, ranging from the 325-foot Christina O down to far more modest vessels, turning the entire scene into a boating spectacle to remember.
The regatta's most emphatic statement came from the home team. Racing as though the water belonged to them, Luna Rossa set the benchmark that every other crew spent the event trying to meet. They claimed both the overall title and the Women & Youth honours, adding two magnificent Roberto Ziranu sculptures to their trophy collection in the process.
Performing in front of adoring fans who turned out in enormous numbers, the Italian team elevated their racing into something that felt larger than sport alone. For the tifosi who packed every vantage point, those results carried a clear and encouraging message about what lies ahead on the Road to Naples in 2027.
The excitement extended well beyond the race course. Downtown Cagliari hummed with America's Cup fever throughout the event, the FanZone Lazzaretto filled to capacity and the Race Village alive with entertainment. The Official Event Shop drew queues that wrapped around the building, while food stands and activation areas reported brisk, steady trade from start to finish.
The dock-out and post-race shows attracted crowds on a scale rarely, if ever, seen at a sailing event, scenes more readily compared to major global sporting occasions than to anything the sport had previously known. Every available vantage point filled with spectators hoping for a glimpse of the sport's biggest names.
The soundtrack was impossible to miss. Fat Boy Slim, ACDC, Vado al Massimo, The Script, Dave Dobbyn and Woodkid blasted from the speakers as teams left the dock to begin competition, and the eruptions of celebration from the crowd that greeted each winning result are the kind of moments those who were present will carry with them for years.
The Opening Ceremony established the tone for everything that followed. A 300-strong troupe dressed in the traditional folkloric regalia of the region led a procession of America's Cup teams and dignitaries down to the Race Village for the official ribbon-cutting, delighting the assembled crowd along the way.
The cultural significance carried by that procession was entirely fitting. This was the first time an America's Cup regatta had been staged on the picturesque and glistening azure waters of the Bay of Angels, one of the most striking settings in the world for yacht racing, and the ceremony acknowledged that historic moment with appropriate weight.
The America's Cup trophy itself was on display throughout the event, attended at all times by white-gloved security. Famously purchased on speculation by the Marquess of Anglesey from Crown Jewellers R&M Garrard in London in 1848, it stood alongside the Louis Vuitton Cup, which will be presented to the winning Challenger before they face Defender Emirates Team New Zealand in Naples in July 2027. Both trophies looked entirely at home against a Sardinian backdrop.
With the next America's Cup now closing fast, a nervous anticipation sharpened the competitive atmosphere in Cagliari throughout the regatta. For Italy's passionate fans, the results provide plenty of encouragement ahead of a contest now just over a year away. For everyone else in the fleet, those same results serve as a vivid reminder of precisely how high the bar has been set.
In virtually every respect, Sardinia demonstrated the standard to which a regatta of this magnitude should aspire. The America's Cup world now turns its attention to Naples, where the second Preliminary Regatta is scheduled for 24 to 27 September 2026. Old rivalries will reignite there and new ones will begin to take shape, much as they did on the Bay of Angels. The magic-dust of the America's Cup is in Italy, and it is spectacular.
Thank you Sardinia. Thank you Cagliari. Thank you Italy. We very much look forward to returning.
